Reasoning
by puellascribit5
Summary: Neal goes undercover to assist another agent with a case and Peter isn't too thrilled about it. But when something in the case arises, Peter is forced to intervene.
1. Chapter 1

**(A/N):** I hope you guys enjoy this one! I don't own anything and any mistakes you find are my own.

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><p>"Great work everybody." Peter praised the agents and Neal in the conference room. The team recently took down a huge money laundering scam. "I'll see all your bright and shining faces tomorrow morning for our new case."<p>

They all gathered their belongings and headed out of the office. Peter spotted Neal about to leave the room.

"Neal, hold up." Peter called out.

"What's up?" Neal turned around, hoping he didn't have to stay any later.

"Hughes told me he wanted to see you in his office before you left." Peter almost laughed as he watched Neal's face drop.

"Why? I didn't do anything." Neal automatically jumped to the conclusion he did something wrong.

"Nobody is saying you did."

"Well, do you know _why_ Hughes wants to see me?"

"No I don't. He didn't tell me anything." Peter walked over to the door with his briefcase in hand. "Relax, he's not going to bite your head off. Just go see what he has to say. I'll pick you up tomorrow, alright?"

"Bye. Tell Elizabeth I say hi." Neal let Peter pass in front of him before making the short journey over to the special agent in charge's office.

Peter walked down the stairs and before entering the office, he could see Hughes gesturing for Neal to sit down. Whatever Hughes wanted to talk about seemed important. It must be sensitive information since Hughes didn't bother to mention anything to him about the matter. Peter highly doubted that Neal was in trouble, but with Neal, you never know. The drive home was uneventful. He spent most of the ride wondering what Hughes wanted with Neal.

"El? I'm home." He called out as he entered through the front doors. Satchmo was the first to welcome him home. "Hey, boy." Peter kneeled down and scratched Satch behind his ears.

"Peter?" Elizabeth came from the kitchen. "I didn't think you'd be home this early. I just took the lasagna out of the oven." She met Peter halfway and they exchanged a kiss and went to set the table for dinner.

"We wrapped up another case so I thought everyone deserved a night off."

"That's great!"

The rest of the dinner was spent talking about Elizabeth's newest client. But, Elizabeth could tell Peter's mind was somewhere else. And there was only one reason for that.

"What did Neal do now?" She put down her fork and looked her husband in the eye.

"What makes you think Neal did something?"

"For starters, you've barely touched your dinner. Plus you always get that look on your face when something's up with Neal." Elizabeth explained.

"Since when did you become so perceptive?" he inquired.

"When I married an FBI agent." she smiled. "Now stop redirecting. What's wrong with Neal?"

"Nothing's wrong with Neal. He even told me to tell you 'hi'." Peter took one look at Elizabeth and knew she didn't buy it.

"We should have him over for dinner soon. We've all been so busy lately."

"Yeah." Peter said simply.

"Peter, there's obviously something bothering you." Elizabeth said, somewhat annoyed that Peter wouldn't just spit it out.

"Fine, fine." he waved his hands. "Hughes wanted to talk to Neal before leaving the office today. He didn't say what it was about or anything to me."

"Neal's a grown man, Peter, he can handle things himself. I'm sure he'll tell you all about it tomorrow." Elizabeth stood up and grabbed her plate. "Now either give the rest of your dinner to Satch or finish it yourself." She kissed the top of his head and went into the kitchen.

Elizabeth was right. There was no need to worry. If Neal was in trouble, Hughes would have told him. Besides, Neal would probably tell him about it tomorrow when he picked the younger man up for work. Peter finished the rest of his lasagna and then went to help Elizabeth with the dishes. Whatever Hughes and Neal were up to could wait until tomorrow.

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><p>The next morning was normal as usual. Wake up, kiss Elizabeth, shower, breakfast, and pet Satch on the way out the door. Except this morning during breakfast, he was interrupted by a text from Neal. Peter's confusion was not lost on Elizabeth.<p>

"What's wrong now?"

"Nothing. Just got a text message from Neal." he handed her his phone.

_TO: PETER_

_FROM: NEAL_

_No need to pick me up. See you at the office._

"Peter, it's probably nothing." Elizabeth handed back the phone to Peter. "You'll see him later and then you can question him all about his meeting with Hughes."

"Yeah. I guess I can go walk Satch for a few minutes since I don't have to stop by June's." Peter got up to grab the leash and called Satchmo over.

"Well, I won't be here when you come back. Early meeting with a new client." she added before he could ask. "So I'll say bye now." Elizabeth walked over to Peter and kissed him and reached down to pet Satchmo on his head. "You boys be good now. Oh, and Peter, don't forget to ask Neal about dinner tonight."

"Don't worry, I'll handle it." Peter called out. "Love you."

"Love you too, hon." Elizabeth said as she left for work. Peter soon followed behind with Satch.

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><p>Even after walking Satchmo up and down the sidewalk, Peter still made it to the office with time to spare. As soon as he walked out of the elevator, his eyes glanced to Neal's desk, which was unsurprisingly empty. Looking up, he saw Neal walking out of Hughes' office and heading into the conference room to meet up with Jones. Something was going on and he had every intention of finding out. Peter hastily made his way up the stairs and into the conference room.<p>

"Moring, Boss." Jones greeted.

"Hey, Peter." Neal looked up from the file he was reading.

"Hey." Peter said simply.

Jones' eyes traveled from Neal to Peter and back. There was a certain tension forming in the room and knew he needed to get out fast.

"Ah, Diana wanted me to check something. I'll be back." Jones quickly made his way out of the office so that Neal and Peter could chat in private.

"So…" Neal started.

"So…" Peter mimicked. "Mind telling me what's going on here?" he gestured to all the papers on the desk.

"Well, it turns out I wasn't in trouble." Neal smiled. "Hughes wanted to ask me something."

"Which was…?" Peter was wishing Neal would just go ahead and spit it out.

"He wants me to go undercover"

Peter narrowed his eyes. "You always go undercover. What makes this any different?"

"Hughes told me that Agent Tucker requested my expertise on this case." Neal handed Peter a file. "The Channing has recently lost three paintings due to three different robberies in the past six months. Clean jobs, cameras didn't catch anything, and no alarms were triggered."

"Inside job?" Peter flipped through the file.

"That's what Hughes thinks. He wants me to go undercover for a while and build a bond with the employees. They won't know I'm FBI."

"So Tucker will be using you?" Peter said before he could stop himself.

Neal narrowed his eyes. Peter's comment brought back unpleasant memories of working with Agent Rice.

"Tucker knows my track record and what I've done to help out here. Like I said, he requested my help." Neal stated simply.

"I'm sure you'll do fine. Any idea how long you'll be undercover?"

"Don't know. I'm supposed to leave soon for my meeting with the manager of the gallery and if I get the job, I'll go in everyday and keep you guys up to date."

"Could take a while."

"I'm up for a little excitement." Neal smiled. "Well, like I said, I gotta head out."

"Wait, what about your anklet?" Peter spoke up.

"Jones already took care of it." Neal held up his left wrist, revealing a stylish watch. "GPS equipped watch. You'll be able to track me."

Peter nodded. "Well, good luck."

"Thanks." Neal gave a half smiled and walked out. Peter watched the younger man disappear into the elevator. He was still wondering why Hughes didn't ask him about Neal assisting Agent Tucker. Tucker was a younger agent and was moving up in the division, much like Peter had. Peter decided he couldn't possibly concentrate unless he found out what was going on. He walked over to Hughes' office and knocked.

"Come in." he heard from behind the door. "Something you'd like to talk to me about, Burke?"

"Yes, sir, there is. I'm just wondering why you didn't let me know about Agent Tucker wanting Neal going undercover for his case. He didn't clear it with me first."

"Tucker knows how sensitive you are about Caffrey, especially since after the Rice incident, so he came to me. And Caffrey is at the full disposal of the bureau." Hughes explained.

Peter frowned. "But he's under my custody."

"Burke, it's nothing personal. This won't be permanent so there's nothing more to say about this. Now go back to your real agents and do your job."

"Yes, sir." Peter tried not to sound bitter. He walked back to the conference room where the team was already set up, sans Neal.

"You alright, boss?" Diana asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Peter coughed and began to address the room. "All right guys, we have a fresh batch of mortgage fraud cases to look at today." Muffled quips and groans could be heard as he passed out the files.

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><p>The rest of the day went by extremely slow without Neal around to distract or strike up a friendly conversation. Peter was glad to be home.<p>

"Peter?" Elizabeth walked down the stairs. When she got to the bottom she frowned and shook her head. "Oh…Peter, you forgot didn't you."

"Forgot about wh—oh." Peter realized he forgot to invite Neal over for dinner. Though, if it was any excuse, he barely saw the younger man today. "Sorry, it slipped my mind. Plus, he's working undercover for Agent Tucker for a while so he might be busy. I didn't really have a chance to ask him this morning."

"So that's what his little meeting was about. He's helping out another agent? See, I told you it was nothing serious." Elizabeth leaned in for a kiss.

"Right. Nothing serious." Peter kissed back.

Elizabeth laughed. "Oh, honey, Neal will be fine. It's only for a little while and then he'll be right back at your side."

"I know." he sighed. "Hmm, I wonder how his meeting went today."

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><p>Right after leaving the Bureau, Neal headed straight toward the Channing. He was particularly excited about this case for numerous reasons. Off-anklet, expensive art, and going undercover were just a few. But Peter's behavior at the office was a bit unsettling. It seemed like Peter was actually upset that he was helping out another agent. There really wasn't anything wrong with helping out Agent Tucker, was there? Neal didn't think so, so he happily took the case. Not that he really had a choice. Now that he was a block from the museum, Neal cleared all those thoughts from his head and started preparing himself for the meeting. When he opened the door, he walked right up toward a desk with a young, blonde secretary sitting at it, who just got off the phone.<p>

"Hello, welcome to the Channing. My name is Shelby, how can I help you?" the secretary greeted happily.

"Nice to meet you Shelby. I'm George Devore and I have a meeting with Ms. Yates." Neal watched her type something into the computer.

"Of course. I'll lead you to her office." Shelby stood up and began leading Neal down a hallway to the right. The Channing was a fairly new and well-kept museum. It was low-key so there was no surprise to Neal that it was being robbed. At the end of the hallway, they came across a door that had _Hannah Yates_ scripted neatly on it. Shelby knocked.

"Yes?" a voice could be heard from behind the door.

"Mr. Devore is here for his meeting."

"Right. Send him in."

Shelby smiled before opening the door. "Nice meeting you Mr. Devore."

"Please, call me George." Neal flashed his pearly whites, which made Shelby blush. She gestured inside the office and politely excused herself to go back to the front desk.

"Good morning, Mr. Devore. I believe we spoke over the phone." Ms. Yates got out from behind her desk to shake Neal's hand. She couldn't be much older than himself. Her office was fairly plain, no family pictures sat at her desk.

"Yes, I believe we did." Neal shook back and they both sat down, Yates taking the chair at her desk and Neal sitting at the chair across from her.

"I've had a few other applicants approach me, but after fair consideration, I think you'd be best fit for the job. After looking at your resume and seeing past showroom experience, we'd be thrilled to have you here."

"Thank you very much. I'm looking forward to working here." Neal smiled. _So far, so good. _He watched Yates open her desk and pull out a note pad. She scribbled something down, ripped it from the packet and handed it to Neal.

"You're first task."

Neal looked at the note and had to stop his jaw from falling on the floor. "Um, excuse me?" There had to be something wrong here. She wrote down 6 types of coffee.

"Is there something wrong?" Yates frowned. "Did you not send in your résumé to become my new assistant? If there is a problem, then feel free to just walk out now. I have many more applicants sitting here on my desk."

"No. No problem at all. I'll be back shortly." Neal got up from his seat and was opening the door when Yates called out.

"Oh, and Mr. Devore, you're welcome to buy yourself something too." she smiled.

"I'll remember that." Neal turned around and walked down the hallway to the front doors. Only after waving goodbye to Shelby and make it did he release a long sigh. He didn't sign up to be someone's errand boy. This case wasn't looking so hot now. And Neal knew that Peter would never let him live this down. He quickly walked up to the nearest coffee shop and stood in line before placing the large offer.

After getting back to the Channing, Neal was greeted with stacks and stacks of papers to be sorted and meetings to be arranged. It was nothing he couldn't easily handle, but it was all just busy work. Neal craved for something that would test his intelligence. He was so into the work that Yates was dishing out on him, he kept forgetting to meet and greet the employees. Thankfully, Yates sent him around to different offices inside the museum which allowed him to case out the building as well as take a look at the blank spots on the walls that used to showcase the stolen artwork.

It was almost 8pm when Yates approached him and tossed him a set of keys.

"Here, we're the last one's here and I'm leaving to go to a dinner party. Lock up for me, will you?" Yates was wearing a tight fitting black dress and sparkling earrings. Her dark brown hair was pulled back into a fancy up-do.

"Of course." Neal nodded. "Have fun."

"See you tomorrow. Be here at 8 o'clock sharp or I'll be arranging a meeting with a potentially new assistant." Yates said seriously and then her face lightened. "Goodnight, Mr. Devore."

"Goodnight." Neal stood and watched her leave. This was his perfect chance to scope out the rest of the place and look by some of the higher quality pieces in the small museum. Neal walked around for a good half an hour before he decided to head home. He locked the front door and was just about to hail a cab when he remembered that Agent Tucker wanted him to debrief every day after work. He sighed, seeing as he wouldn't be heading home just yet. The walk to the office was fairly close so he turned and headed toward the last place he wanted to be.

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><p><strong>(AN):** I'm probably crazy for putting this up since I've only written a few of the chapters already but I couldn't wait! Hope you all liked the first chapter. A bit slow, but I promise things will pick up. Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

It had been three days since Peter last saw Neal. As much as he hates to admit it, Peter was really starting to miss Neal. Neal, probably, wouldn't be missing them. Hughes was throwing mortgage fraud after mortgage fraud at them. And without a source of excitement or procrastination around the office, everyone was barely getting through the day. During lunch, Peter finally decided to call Neal up and finally invite him over for dinner like Elizabeth had been nagging him to do.

"_Hello?"_ a tired voice greeted over the phone.

"Neal?" Peter spoke. This couldn't be the wrong number; he had Neal on speed dial. This didn't sound like Neal.

"_Peter?"_ Neal's voice perked up. He sounded surprised, yet relieved.

"Yeah, it's me. Elizabeth's been telling me to invite you over for dinner for days now but I figured you'd be a bit busy."

"_That would be great. What time do you—" _Neal was interrupted.

"_**Mr. Devore, I hope that isn't a personal call." **_Peter heard a female voice shout over the phone.

"Did I catch you at a bad time?" Peter frowned, wondering what was up.

"_No, not at all. So what time would you want me to come over?"_

"How about around 6? Elizabeth's making your favorite, Cornish Hens."

"_Sounds great. I'll bring over some wine."_

"_**Mr. Devore, I need you to get those invitations for me this instant!**_**"**

"Ah, I better let you go."

"_I'll see you at 6. Bye, Peter."_ Neal hung up quickly.

Peter was now looking forward to dinner. Hopefully Neal would enlighten him on how the undercover job was going. From what he heard over the call, it didn't sound too well. Now, he just had to get through the rest of the day at the office.

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><p>Neal was at the photocopier for the fifth time that day. He hadn't been at the Channing for even a week but it was enough to seem like months. Neal couldn't even find a spare moment to catch his breath. During the past few days, he's met up and chatted with all of the other employees and most of them seemed sympathetic toward him about his new job. No one seemed like they were secretly stealing high-profile paintings from the museum but that still didn't rule out an inside job. Neal's thoughts were interrupted by his phone vibrating in his jacket. He reached in and pulled it out, not bothering to check the caller-id. It was probably Agent Tucker checking in again.<p>

"Hello?" he tried to cover up his tiredness.

"Neal?" _Crap._

"Peter?" Neal didn't know what to say.

"_Yeah, it's me. Elizabeth's been telling me to invite you over for days now but I figured you'd be a bit busy."_

"That would be great. What time do you—" he was stopped by a voice he knew Peter could probably hear from over the phone.

"Mr. Devore, I hope that isn't a personal call." Neal heard Ms. Yates call out.

Neal put a hand over the receiver. "No, I'm on the phone with Mr. Michaels, confirming your 2 o'clock meeting." When Yates didn't say anything back, he figured he was in the clear.

"_Did I catch you at a bad time?"_ Peter frowned, wondering what was up.

"No, not at all. So what time would you want me to come over?"

"_How about around 6? Elizabeth's making your favorite, Cornish Hens."_

Neal smiled; he was in a real need for some of Elizabeth's home cooking. "Sounds great. I'll bring over some wine."

"Mr. Devore, I need you to get those invitations for me this instant!" Yates yelled out.

"_Ah, I better let you go." _

Neal heard the sound of heels clunking on the floor and they were headed toward him. "I'll see you at 6. Bye, Peter." he quickly hung up and pocketed his phone. Neal heard someone cough behind him and he turned to see Yates standing there, tapping her foot with her arms crossed.

"You weren't on the phone with Mr. Michaels confirming my meeting, were you?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Well, you see," Neal paused, trying to figure out a good enough cover. He sighed, "Alright, you got me. I was on the phone with my vet."

"You're vet? Why on earth would you be talking with a veterinarian at work?" she said harshly.

"Because my dog just got out of surgery, that's why." Neal said sadly.

In the blink of an eye, Yates went from uncompassionate to caring. "Oh, you poor thing! I have a dog myself. She's had digestive problems for months now, so I know how you feel." Yates walked up and completely shocked Neal by giving him a big hug. "What's your dog's name?" she pulled apart and kept her arms on his shoulders.

"His name is…Satchmo." Neal paused but not too long to seem suspicious. "Golden lab. He's turning 8 this month. The doctor diagnosed him with bone cancer last year. It's been pretty tough."

"I'm so sorry! You should have told me. Here, take the rest of the day off and go see Satchmo. He needs you." Yates pulled him in for another hug. "Call me if you need any more time off." she turned around and headed back to her office.

Neal was stunned. Yates had a soft spot for dogs! This was perfect; he had the rest of the day off now, which was more than enough time to pick out the best wine for dinner with Elizabeth and Peter. He caught a cab right outside the museum and headed toward June's, where he knew Mozzie would be. After saying hello to the maid, Neal made his way upstairs and opened his door.

"Hey, Mozz."

Mozzie was sitting comfortably on the couch and of course, sipping a nice red wine. "And I thought I was never going to see you again. What do they have you working on this time?"

"Undercover job at the Channing." Neal grabbed a wine glass and sat down by Mozzie, who poured a generous amount.

"See anything that catches your eye?" Mozzie offered.

"Of course I did."

"Right, right. So, what's your cover?"

"I'm the new assistant to the manager, Hannah Yates."

"May I ask _why_ are you running around pretending that getting coffee and making photocopies is an undercover job?"

"They think the recent heists are being done by someone working there. An up-and-coming agent knows my reputation and asked for my assistance on the case." Neal explained.

"And how did that go over with the Suit?"

"What do you mean?"

"Have you not forgotten the last time you were lent out to another agent?" Mozzie placed his glass on the coffee table to take off his glasses and clean them. "And you must be blind if you can't see how overprotective he is of you."

Neal thought about that for a second. Did this arrangement really bother Peter? Nah, they were probably getting work done ten times faster at the office without him there bothering other agents. He did wonder if they missed him at all. They probably didn't, Neal thought, they've solved cases without him before so why would this be any different?

"Yeah, well I should leave. I need to pick up a wine since you oh so nicely drank the bottle I was planning on using tonight." Neal got up and rinsed his glass.

"Tonight?" Mozzie got up too.

"Peter invited me over. Said Elizabeth's been bugging him about it for days."

"Hmm, speaking of Mrs. Suit, I haven't seen her in a while. I wonder if she has any new caterers for me to try. Tell her I'll be in touch."

"Will do. See you later, Mozz." Neal walked out of June's mansion and towards the city.

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><p>"I got it!" Peter called from the kitchen. It was 6:00 pm on the dot and Neal was on time, like always. When he opened the door, he was greeted by that familiar face. "Hey, glad you could make it."<p>

"Me too. Luckily, I got off from work today." Neal said, and once he did, he realized how odd it sounded. It sounded like he actually had a real job, like he didn't have a two-mile tether, like he and Peter were old friends getting together again and not an FBI agent and consultant.

During the awkward pause, Peter noticed a plate of tasty-looking cookies that Neal was holding. "Oh, those look good." he commented.

"Oh, yeah, funny story about those." Neal gave a small laugh.

"I'm sure you'll tell us all about it during dinner." Peter reached to the plate Neal was holding, grabbed a cookie and popped it into his mouth. He knew it was going to spoil his dinner, but hey, they did look delicious. Except something was very, very wrong with the cookie. Peter practically ran into the kitchen and spat out the cookie in the sink and washed the remains in his mouth down the drain. When he turned the water off, he heard Neal laughing his butt off behind him.

"What the hell were those?" Peter's voice was stern. "I know you can cook and that were absolutely disgusting! It almost tasted like the time my brother dared me to eat dog food!"

Neal finally stopped laughing to catch his breath. "That's because these cookies _are_ dog food. They are specialty dog cookies from the finest pet store in the city." he smiled.

"And why didn't you bother to tell me that?"

"You didn't really give me the chance."

"Peter?" Elizabeth was coming down the stairs. "Neal! You're here, great!" she gave him a hug. "I'll go take the hens out of the oven. You boys can go set the table."

Peter walked over to Neal with the plates and utensils. "This conversation isn't over. I expect a full explanation after we sit down."

After setting the table and pouring the wine, they all began eating quietly. That is until Elizabeth broke the silence.

"So why was I hearing yelling upstairs earlier?" Elizabeth turned toward Peter.

"Neal brought over some cookies, hon." Peter started.

"Oh, Neal, that's nice of you." Elizabeth smiled at Neal.

Peter rolled his eyes and continued. "Except they were _dog food_ cookies, El! And he let me eat them right in front of him!"

Elizabeth almost choked on her wine. She burst out laughing. Once she regained her composure, she said, "I wish I could have seen that!"

"It wasn't funny! It was terrible." Peter narrowed his eyes at Neal. "And you have yet to explain why you came here with those damn things."

"They were a gift, actually, from the manager at the Channing. When I was on the phone with you earlier, she knew it was a personal call. So, me being my cunning self, told her that my dog was sick. She was sympathetic and let me have the rest of the day off. When I got home, June's maid said someone stopped by and left them for me to give to my dog." Neal finished.

Peter reached over toward the cookie platter and picked up a card underneath a cookie.

_George—_

_I know Satchmo might not be up to eating these at the moment, but please accept these as a get-well-soon gift._

_Best wishes,_

_Hannah_

"What is this? Satchmo? You used our dog for your lie!"

"Come on, I was the only thing I could think of on the spot." Neal smirked. "I'm sure Satchmo wouldn't mind sharing the rest of the cookies with you, Peter."

"Be quiet." Peter ordered.

"Peter, be nice." Elizabeth warned. "How about let's talk about something else? Neal, did Peter mention that his older brother is coming to visit from upstate?"

"No, he didn't." Neal didn't know what to think of that. It could be taken two ways: Peter doesn't intend on letting his family anywhere near him or Peter just completely forgot.

Peter nodded. "Yeah, he's bringing Whitney and the girls too."

"That's fantastic! Gosh, we haven't seen Jasmine since she was five. And Jessica is just about to start high school, isn't she?" Elizabeth asked.

"I think you're right. Wow, it has been awhile." Peter shook his head.

Neal felt uncomfortable hearing Elizabeth and Peter talk about their relatives and that wasn't lost on Elizabeth.

"You'll have to stop by, Neal, and meet everyone." Elizabeth said casually, not realizing the full extent of what it really meant to Neal.

"Oh, I don't know, with the case and all…I might be caught up…" Neal said awkwardly.

"I'm sure you can smooth-talk your way out of another day of work, can't you?" Peter joked.

"You're probably right. I'll see what I can do." Neal half-promised. He would try to make every effort not to meet Peter's family. What would they think of him? What has Peter already told them? Neal couldn't possibly imagine meeting everyone.

Once the three of them finished the amazing dinner, Elizabeth ordered the men into the living room so she could get desert prepared without either of them picking at it. Neal took to his favorite spot on the left side of the couch and Peter took his favorite chair right across. Deciding to pass the time, Peter picked up the remote and turned on the game, which was still going on. Then it dawned on him that Neal doesn't have a thing for sports, so he turned to his partner.

"Do you have a request?" Peter was surprised when he saw that Neal was sleeping on the couch. Neal's head was tilted onto the arm of the couch and it looked like he was exhausted. Peter smiled at the sight before he got up and went back to the kitchen.

"Peter, help me and grab a plate, please?" Elizabeth was already holding two plates of chocolate cake in her hands.

"Yeah, I don't think we'll be needing that third piece, El."

"Why not? Does Neal not want any?" she frowned. Neal always loved her cakes.

"No, it's not that. He fell asleep on the couch." Peter pointed into the living room.

Elizabeth put down the plates she was holding and went into the living room. Just like Peter said, Neal was fast asleep. Satchmo even found a comfortable spot right next to the couch.

"So what now? Do we wake him up?" Peter asked, completely clueless.

"Peter! No, let's just let him sleep. It looks like this undercover job is really sucking the energy out of him. Did he ever say what he was doing at the museum?" Elizabeth headed back to the kitchen and sat down at the table. She didn't plan on the cake going to waste and neither did Peter.

"Mmm, this is great." Peter took another forkful of cake. "Anyway, no, he didn't. We never really got to talk about what he was doing. I'm not the agent in charge of the case so I don't know how it's going."

"Maybe Neal will tell you tomorrow morning." Elizabeth ate the last bite of her piece of cake.

"We aren't waking him up? Hon, the couch isn't exactly comfortable." Peter commented, knowing that whenever he fell asleep on the couch watching the game, he always had a stiff neck the next day.

"I don't think we should. You know if we wake him up, he's going to insist to take a cab back to June's. Then you'll insist on driving him. And after going back and forth 10 times, you both will come to your senses and he'll just end up spending the night here anyway." Elizabeth started cleaning up the cake.

"You have a point." Peter admitted.

"Besides, you can always drop him off at June's tomorrow on the way to work to get freshened up."

"Alright, that sounds fine." Peter helped Elizabeth with the last of the dishes before they both headed to the stairs. Elizabeth stopped and motioned with her hands for Peter to say put while she got a spare blanket from the closet and handed it to him. She pointed to Neal and then Peter rolled his eyes.

Peter thought this was just awkward.

He quietly tip-toed over to the couch, careful not to step on Satchmo, and draped the blanket over Neal. Peter figured that Neal must be really tired since he didn't even make the slightest movement after having the blanket placed on him. Even though Peter was way out of his element, the gesture still felt good. He maneuvered his way around Satch and headed upstairs to find Elizabeth already sleeping. Peter got ready for bed and slid under the covers next to Elizabeth. Her soft, even breathing soothed him to sleep.

_Yeah, this was nice._

* * *

><p><strong>(AN):** I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Plenty more to come_, _so stay tuned! And most importantly, thanks for reading._  
><em>


	3. Chapter 3

Neal awoke calmly to a noise coming from another room. Looking around he saw he was on the Burke's couch. _Wait…_ He sat up quickly and looked around to confirm his location. No, no, no, this was bad. Yates told him if he wasn't precisely on time for work, he'd be fired. And getting fired would mean he'd have to face Agent Tucker and explain to him what happened. Sure, Tucker was one of the few understanding agents at the bureau, but that didn't mean that he could go and screw up the entire operation by sleeping in. Getting up quickly, Neal nearly tripped over his own two feet trying to slip on his shoes. He could thank Peter and Elizabeth later, now he just needed to get a cab…

"Neal?" a voice called out. Neal paused with his hand on the doorknob. "Where do you think you're going?"

Neal turned around and faced Peter who had a bowl of cereal in his hand. "Uh, I'm late. I need to go to the Channing and see if I can convince the manager not to fire me."

Peter laughed, which deeply confused Neal.

"Neal, its Saturday. You have off. I even called Tucker and made sure you didn't have to go in today." Peter explained.

Neal took a deep breath and sighed. What was wrong with him? He didn't even know what day it was! Neal slowly made his way back to the couch and leaned his head back. After a moment he sat up and faced Peter, who was sitting across from him, eating cereal. "Thanks for letting me sleep here last night. I guess I was more tired than I thought."

"Yeah, you crashed right before dinner. Elizabeth was just about to take out dessert."

"Oh." Neal said glumly.

"Don't worry, we saved you a slice of cake." Peter smiled as Neal's face brightened. "So…you never got to tell me what you are actually doing at the Channing? How big is your office?" Peter finished the last of his cereal.

"Well, I don't have an office." Neal said slowly. Technically he did, if you counted the little counter space between the photocopier and the coffee machine.

"Then what are you doing there? Working the floor?"

"No. I'm the manager's assistant. I get to run around doing her chores all day." Neal sadly admitted.

Peter tried to hold back a laugh. Neal working as someone's lackey? That was too funny.

"Sorry, I shouldn't laugh. I just thought you'd be doing something else."

"That makes two of us." Neal whispered under his breath.

"Any suspects yet?" Peter decided to change the subject.

"Not yet. Everyone seems nice, but that doesn't rule them out. I made a lunch date with the girl working the front desk so maybe I'll learn some dirt about other employees."

"Good thinking." Peter got up and rinsed out his cereal bowl. When he came back into the living room, Neal was getting up from the couch.

"Thanks for letting me stay here again. Tell Elizabeth dinner was delicious." Neal paused and then remembered something. "Oh, and that Mozzie will be in touch. He told me he wanted to help out with new caterers."

"Wait, let me give you a ride. It's no problem." Peter offered.

"Are you sure? Really, I'll just call a cab." Neal insisted.

"No, it's fine. I'm meeting El for lunch later in that area so it's really alright."

Neal nodded and both men headed out of the house and into the Taurus. The car ride was normal as usual. Neal trying to mess with the radio and map, which led to Peter slapping his hand, and then Neal rolling his eyes. Peter realized that this was the most he's seen Neal in days. He hoped that the case would wrap up fast; everyone was missing their favorite consultant. Once arriving at June's, Neal thanked Peter again and went inside.

* * *

><p>It was Monday morning when Neal stepped foot into the Channing again, with the usual morning tray of coffee for everyone.<p>

"Good morning, George!" Shelby greeted happily from behind the front desk. She was a beautiful, young girl. Her straight blonde hair was pulled back into a neat bun. She had a clean and elegant look that Neal respected.

"Morning! Are we still on for lunch today?" Neal put down the coffee. He was fairly excited about this lunch date. There had to be some gossip going around about the stolen art, or at least one or two employees pointing fingers.

"I think we are." she smiled. "I'll see you later, George."

"You too." Neal winked. He picked the coffee back up and went to go distribute each cup to its rightful owner. Taking a deep breath, he headed over to the giant stack of paper that Yates left out for him to fold and fit into envelopes. As part of snooping around, Neal made it a priority to take a look at all the papers and see if anything was suspicious. Sadly, all the paperwork was anything but suspicious. He was halfway into the stack when he glanced at the clock. It was only a few minutes after 10; he still had another two hours to go until lunch with Shelby. Neal looked at the stack and picked up one of the sheets. Turns out, he had been folding invitations.

– _The Channing Museum –_

_550 West 21st Street_

_You are invited to our annual showcase event on Saturday, August 5th at 7pm_

_We will be unveiling a Haustenberg, titled, _"Golden Valley"

_Complementary drinks and appetizers_

_RSVP 212-323-4309 by July 31st_

This sounded like a perfect next target. And whoever decides to take a shot at stealing it has to be extremely cocky. This specific Haustenberg painting isn't as high-profile as some of his other work, but it's last face value, coming in at 95 grand, still made it worth stealing. Hopefully Shelby would know a bit more about the event. The invitation said "annual", so the guests must be regular patrons to the gallery. He needed to look at the guest list from previous years, including this one happening at the end of the week.

After coming across the invitation, things seemed to pick up around. Neal finally had a clue and it meant that he was one step closer to getting this case solved and going back to work with Peter. Not that he was missing the mortgage fraud cases. What he missed was hanging around with a friend at work, even if his anklet had to tag along.

It was 12:29 PM on the dot when Neal walked up to the front desk to meet up with Shelby. When he got to the front of the gallery, she was already waiting for him.

"You ready?" Neal asked as he smoothly held out an arm to which Shelby intertwined hers.

Shelby nodded. "There's this little café down the street. Their lunch menu is great. Would you wanna try it?"

"Sure, that's fine with me." Neal said as he opened the door and they headed down two blocks to the café.

After ordering, they began the usual small talk. But what Neal needed was some dirt on the employees.

"So…what's Yates's case? Has she always been this strict?" Neal changed the subject.

"I have no idea. Wish I did, though. I've only been working at the gallery for a year and she has always been like that." Shelby paused and lowered her voice. "Have you noticed she's been out of the office lately? I wonder what's so important that she won't tell us where she's going. Nothing is even on her calendar, I've looked."

"How about everyone else? Has anyone asked her?"

"Yeah. Lily asked last week and Yates said it was "personal" and told her to get back to work. Weird." Shelby pulled out her cell phone. "We better start heading back before our lunch break is over. Wouldn't want to be late just in case Yates is there.

"Good point." Neal said as he got up too. He had planned on asking her about the Haustenberg showing but decided otherwise. He didn't want to ask too many questions, she might get suspicious.

The rest of the day passed by slowly. Neal secretly texted Tucker that he had a lead and got a response telling him to come by the office after work. _Great_, Neal thought, _another late night._

* * *

><p>Peter happily entered through the front door and walked toward the kitchen. He had been able to come home in time for dinner with Elizabeth more often than usual. He could get use to this.<p>

"Hey! Glad your home." Elizabeth kissed Peter as she got up and started clearing some papers.

"Big event?" Peter asked, keeping his hands to himself. He rather not mess up Elizabeth's organized system.

"Sort of. The Channing is holding its annual showcase and I've been asked to cater the event. I did it last year and they've asked me to do it again so that's good news! It's not that big of an event but the manager is really strict." she explained as she finished clearing the table.

"Wait, the Channing? That's where Neal's undercover!" Peter realized. He took off his jacket and sat down at the table.

"You're kidding, I totally forgot about that!" Elizabeth sat back down. "Well then he must know that they're showcasing a Haustenberg at the event. Would that be something this thief could go after?"

"Maybe. I don't know anything about the case at all. I could ask Tucker if he'd let me assist. Don't know if he'd say yes, but, Neal is my consultant and if you're catering the event, I don't see why he wouldn't."

"Go ask him tomorrow. I'm sure they'll organize a group of agents to go to the event, you should sign up."

Peter chuckled. "El, you can't just "sign up" to go undercover. It's bad form to crash another agent's case."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes sarcastically. "Well excuse me if things aren't that simple." she smiled. "I really would love a break from cooking tonight. Would you mind us ordering in?"

Peter pulled out his phone and smiled "Pizza or Chinese?"

* * *

><p>Early the next day, Peter walked into the office and headed for Agent tucker's desk. Luckily, Tucker was already there.<p>

"Tucker, I was wondering if I could have word."

Tucker looked up from his computer. "Sure, I'm all ears."

"Maybe in the conference room?" Peter asked.

"Alright, but make it fast, we made a break in the case." Tucker got up from his desk and walked with Peter to the conference room.

"So, Burke, what's up? If this is about your consultant again, stop worrying, he's doing fine."

"No, no, it's not that." Peter shook his head. "You said you made a break in the case?"

"Yeah, Caffrey alerted us about some event going on at the Channing. They'll be showcasing a new arrival, a Haustenberg."

"I know," Peter started but was interrupted.

"How do you know, Burke? Checking up on me, are you?" Tucker asked defensively.

"You didn't let me finish. I know about the event because my _wife_ is the caterer. What I wanted to ask you was if I could assist you in the case. If my consultant and wife will be at this event, I plan on being there too. We have no clue if our thief will pull some stunt or not."

"Listen here, I respect you, but this here is _my_ case. And I would prefer you stay out of it." Tucker turned to walk out.

Peter was getting angry now. Neal and Elizabeth were going to be at the event and who knows what could go down?

"No, you listen." Peter said, trying to keep his voice steady. "I'm going to be there whether you like it or not."

They locked eyes for a moment before Tucker spoke. "Fine, you'll be there. But I swear, Burke, if you mess this up—"

Peter cut him off. "Don't worry, I won't."

* * *

><p>It was Thursday night when Neal was doing his usual check around the gallery before closing up. He hoped that the event on Saturday would mean the end of the case. He wasn't sure how much longer he could handle working as an assistant. Neal was just about to walk out the front door when he heard a noise in the back of the building, the part of the gallery where they store paintings waiting to be hung. If it was the thief, then he was screwed. He had no backup at all. Choosing to take a risk, Neal slowly walked toward the back room. The door was ajar and the light was on in the storage room. There was definitely someone inside.<p>

Neal put a hand on the door and pushed on it, revealing the culprit. But this was the last person he suspected.

"Shelby?"

* * *

><p><strong>(AN):** Short-ish chapter, but I felt it would be interesting to cut it off here. Hope you all are enjoying the story! Don't worry, there is much more to come. Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

_"Shelby?"_

"George? Wha-what are you doing here?" Shelby said shakily. She was standing right in front of the small safe that held the Haustenberg, which was going on display in two days at the event. Neal could see certain tools around her that looked fairly similar to the ones he used to break into the safe that concealed the infamous amber music box.

"I think the better question would be what are _you_ doing here, Shelby?" Neal slowly walked in, watching her movements carefully.

"I…I…please! You have to let me explain! This isn't my fault!" she started sobbing hysterically.

Neal sighed; this wasn't going to be easy. How could he possibly take her word for anything? There was no way that she was able to explain her story right here so Neal decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. "Shelby, listen to me, I'm going to have to tell the FBI about this." Shelby's sobbing increased. "Shh, I'm not done talking. I happen to know an agent who will hear you out. I promise. You just have to come with me, okay?"

"Okay." Shelby nodded, tears slowing down. Neal put an arm around her, making sure she wasn't going anywhere, and started walking toward the front of the building again. He stopped and pulled out his phone.

"_Burke."_

"Peter, would you mind picking me and a friend up?" Neal said calmly. "I'm at the Channing."

"_Neal, I'm not your personal taxi service. Call a cab."_

"No, wait, don't hang up! This is about the case. Please, pick us up. Tell Tucker he needs to be at the office by the time we get there."

"_Fine. I'll be there in 10."_ Peter hung up.

Shelby looked up at him. "C-case? Are you FBI?"

"Yes. Well, no. Sort of. I'll explain more once my friend picks us up."

Peter was true to his word and showed up 10 minutes later. He eyed Neal, who chose to sit in the back with some strange girl who he's never seen before. Peter opened his mouth to ask a question, but Neal stopped him and said, "Wait until we're at the office." After the short journey back to the office, Neal, Shelby, and Peter made their way to the 21st floor. Once they arrived, Agent Tucker was impatiently waiting for them in the conference room.

"Who is that?" Tucker said bluntly as they all entered the room.

"Shelby Marks. I caught her trying to break into the safe that had the Haustenberg in it." Neal said as he sat down next to Shelby.

"What!" Tucker raised his voice, shocked at what Neal said. "Then why the hell isn't she cuffed, Burke?" he turned to Peter.

"Don't look at me, Neal just called me and told me to pick them up and bring them here." Peter held up his hands.

"Well then, Ms. Marks, it looks like you have some explaining to do. Would you care telling us why you were caught trying to break into a safe containing a valuable painting this evening?" Tucker sat down and looked directly at Shelby.

"I can't! If he finds out—" Shelby was cut off by Tucker.

"He? Who's he? Does this guy have a name?" Tucker raised his voice more and Shelby buried her head in her hands.

"Tucker, control yourself." Peter spoke up. "Here, take a break, you need to cool off. I'll handle this."

Tucker looked reluctant but he finally got up and left the conference room.

"Shelby, please, you can tell us. We'll protect you." Neal said softly.

"Does this mean that you're really FBI, George?" Shelby looked up.

"You could say that. My name is Neal and I'm a consultant. I was undercover investigating the stolen artwork for Agent Tucker." Neal explained

"Okay, then who is he?" she jerked her head toward Peter.

"That's Peter, he's my handler. If you just tell us everything, we can help you. Right, Peter?"

"I'll do my best to help you. But you have to give us something, alright?" Peter said.

"Alright." Shelby took a deep breath. "I didn't want to do this. My boyfriend, Larry Quaker, has been behind the thefts. He's been forcing me to help him all this time. I—I couldn't do anything, I was too scared and I still am. Oh God, if he finds out I'm talking to the FBI, he'll kill me!" she broke off crying again.

Peter and Neal looked at each other. Neal, knowing fully that Peter was terrible in this field, decided to take over.

"Hey, we'll make sure that doesn't happen. You can trust us." Neal said confidently and then continued. "Just wondering, if Larry is your boyfriend, why did you take the risk of going out to lunch with me? Wouldn't he get mad if he found out?"

"He'd go ballistic. But, no, not this time. He _told _me to make arrangements to go out to eat with you, to find out more about you. He thought you were either an undercover cop or FBI." Shelby explained.

"Well, he wasn't exactly wrong about that." Neal said.

"Shelby," Peter spoke up, "would you mind explaining everything from the beginning.? Start off when you first met Larry."

"Okay, well, in the beginning of our relationship, everything was perfect. But then I started getting suspicious. Sometimes it would be hard for me to find my purse, planner, and my keys for the Channing. I thought it was just me being forgetful, but eventually Larry told me what he was up to. I had a feeling he'd been using me to get to the paintings. He—he told me that if I didn't help him, he'd kill me." Shelby started to sniffle. "I'm really sorry! I didn't know what to do!"

"Hey, it's okay. This isn't your fault. Now, just tell us what you were doing tonight? Did he tell you to steal the painting once everyone left?" Neal inquired.

"Yeah, he did. He told me to check what type of safe it is and if I had enough time, to take it. He was going to wait and take it at the event on Saturday, but he said he was getting suspicious."

They all sat quietly for a few minutes, thinking about what would happen next. It was Peter who broke the silence.

"Shelby, say if you told Larry that it wasn't possible to take the painting tonight, would he go on with his plan to take it at the event on Saturday?"

"I think so. He said that was Plan B."

"Good. I think I may have a plan to catch him."

Eventually, they called Tucker back into the room and went on explaining Peter's plan. The plan was to get a team of agents, including Peter and Neal, and go undercover at the Channing's event on Saturday. Peter would escort Elizabeth since she was the caterer and was going to be present at the gallery. They would wait and keep their eyes on the Haustenberg and see if Larry turns up. And if he did, they'd take him down.

As part of the plan, they had to release Shelby since she had to go and tell Larry she couldn't take the painting. Once Jones took her into the elevator, it was just Neal and Peter left in the office. Tucker had left a few minutes earlier. He wasn't too happy about letting Peter into his case, but realized he didn't have a choice.

"You think she'll be okay?" Neal turned toward Peter.

"She's held on for this long, two more days won't kill her." Peter said, and then regretted it. For all they know, two days could kill her.

"Does this mean I have to go to work at the Channing tomorrow?" Neal asked, hoping he didn't have to face another copier for a long time.

Peter smiled. "Kill your dog."

Neal's scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. "Uh, Peter, I don't have a dog." Peter was still smiling. And then Neal finally caught on. "Oh…good idea. I'll call Yates in the morning."

"Alright, just tell her you'll still be able to make it to the event."

"Will do." Neal looked at the clock; it was almost pushing midnight. "Hey, would you mind driving me to June's?"

Peter shook his head. "Neal, I told you earlier, I'm not your personal taxi service."

"Oh…" Neal was shocked at Peter. "I guess I'll go get a cab." he started walking out the door of the conference room when he heard Peter laugh behind him. Turning around, Neal saw that Peter was grinning.

"I was joking. Come on, let's go." Peter grabbed his jacket and set out toward the elevator with Neal.

* * *

><p>"So this won't be dangerous, right?" Elizabeth asked concerned. "Hold on, honey—wait, you two, move that table over by that blue and green painting." she pointed toward another wall. "Yes, that's it. Perfect, now just bring in the next two and set them on each side."<p>

Peter loved watching Elizabeth work. Especially while she was wearing a tasteful red cocktail dress and had her beautiful brunette hair pulled back neatly. If it were up to him, Peter would whisk her away and they'd both leave the gallery for a night out in the city. But no, that wasn't the case. Right now, catching Larry was top priority. There was a little over an hour left until the guests were supposed to start arriving. Shelby had called earlier and said that everything was going according to plan. The sooner this was over, the better. And once it's over, Neal gets to work with the team again, right where he belongs.

"I see Elizabeth's almost done setting up." Speaking of the devil…

"Yeah, she has it all under control."

"And I'm guessing the rest of the crew is already too. I noticed the surveillance van two blocks down."

"Neal, you're here!" Elizabeth walked over to Neal and Peter. She gave Neal a quick hug and then stood beside Peter.

"Shh, hon, the people here still think Neal is undercover." Peter reminded her.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Mr…?" Elizabeth turned to Neal.

"Devore. George Devore." Neal took Elizabeth's hand and kissed it smoothly. "It's a pleasure."

Peter rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"George!" Neal's heart dropped. "Oh, George, I'm so glad you could make it!" That voice belonged to the one and only Hannah Yates.

"Ms. Yates, good to see you." Neal smiled, but not too much.

"Please, it's Hannah, we aren't working right now." she patted his shoulder. "How are you holding up?"

"It's hard. But I deeply believe that Satchmo would want me here tonight."

"I agree." Yates turned her attention to Peter and Elizabeth. "So, Elizabeth, this is Mr. Burke I presume?"

"Yes, this is Peter. Peter, this is Hannah Yates, manager of the gallery." Elizabeth introduced them.

"Nice to meet you." Peter shook Yates' hand.

"You too. Well, I better go make sure everything is in place. The guests should be arriving any minute now. See you all later." Yates waved as she walked away.

"Hmm, I don't see Shelby yet. I would think she would have been here before the guests." Neal looked around.

"Maybe she's coming in with Larry." Peter thought out loud.

"Yeah, maybe. So where's Tucker?" Neal asked.

"Tucker? Oh, he's in the van. He wasn't exactly too keen on letting me assist him." Peter admitted.

"Hey, boss," Jones walked up to them. "They're all set outside and I got our men positioned around each exit. Diana just came in too."

"Great. We've done our job, now, it's Larry's move."

* * *

><p>It was almost an hour into the event when Neal finally spotted Shelby by herself.<p>

"Hey, is everything alright? Where's Larry?"

"He's here." Shelby said nervously. "He went to the storage room to get the painting."

"Why isn't it already hung?" Neal asked.

"Yates said she didn't want it to be shown until all the guests have arrived."

"Okay. I'll go find Peter. Try and stay away from the back room in case anything happens, alright?"

Shelby nodded as Neal went to go get Peter and the rest of the team. He spotted Peter with Jones talking to some guest.

"Peter, he's here. Shelby just said he's headed to the storage room where the painting is now." Neal said.

"Good." Peter cautiously held up his watch, which was transmitting a live audio feed to the van and the other agents inside the gallery. "Team 1, hold your positions. We're closing in. Let's hope this will go smoothly."

Peter, Neal, and Jones quickly made their way to the back of the gallery. And just as Shelby said, the light was on in the storage room and the door was slightly open. Peter and Jones had their hands on their guns, ready to pull them if necessary. After a second, Peter signaled to Jones, who then kicked the door open, revealing Larry.

"FBI!" Jones shouted. "Hands where I can see them."

Larry turned around angrily. "Dammit!" he slowly raised his hands behind his head.

"Larry Quaker, you're under arrest for four counts of art theft." Peter went to cuff Larry and then handed him over to Jones.

"Shelby will be happy." Neal said as he walked with Peter in front of Jones and Larry.

"I would think so." Peter agreed.

Just then, they heard someone grunt and fall on the floor. Turning around quickly, they saw Jones on the ground, knocked out. Looking up, they realized Larry was now holding Jones' gun.

"Don't move!" Larry shouted, gun pointed straight at Neal. He was looking around crazily for a side exit. Larry knew he had to move fast since he could hear Jones coming to.

"You don't want to do th—" Peter started.

"Shut up! Don't tell me what I do and don't wanna do!" Larry continued looking for a quick escape.

Once he spotted a side door, Larry smiled malevolently before switching the gun's direction from Neal to Peter and pulled the trigger.

* * *

><p><strong>(AN):** Uh oh...cliffhanger? I hope you all are enjoying the story! Thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

_Once he spotted a side door, Larry smiled malevolently before switching the gun's direction from Neal to Peter and pulled the trigger._

Peter has never been shot. Of course he's been shot at from time to time. And there was that one time he got shot, but thankfully wore a bulletproof vest. He's heard numerous agents talk about it before. Though, there wasn't much to say. There was the pain of the bullet tearing through your skin, the hospital time it gave you, and the physical therapy that follows it. Give it time and you'll be back before you can say mortgage fraud. Yeah, Peter's heard plenty about being shot, but not enough about your friend get shot.

Peter closed his eyes and heard the report of the gun. But someone pushed him to the floor right in between those two events. He dared to open his eyes. And once he did, he saw he was on the floor and Neal was lying close to him. Looking up, Larry was nowhere to be seen. Neal made a groan which brought Peter's full attention to his consultant.

"Neal? Did he get you?" Peter said, hoping the answer would be no. He carefully helped Neal into a sitting position and when he pulled back his right hand, there was blood.

"Yeah," Neal took a deep breath. "In the shoulder." Then he attempted to plaster a smile on his face. "I'm fine though…really."

"No, Neal you're not fine. You just got shot!" Peter said sternly. Of course Neal would be the one to think everything is perfect just after getting shot. "And you're losing blood, so stop squirming around and stay still." he ordered, and Neal obeyed.

"Peter?" Jones said groggily as he slowly came to right next to them. "Shit…he shot Caffrey?" he said stunned, as he saw Peter applying pressure to Neal's left shoulder.

Peter and Neal locked eyes for a moment. No, Tucker didn't shoot at Neal, he shot at Peter. And Neal pushed him out of the way, ending up getting shot instead.

"Yeah," Peter ended up saying, "I didn't see which exit he ran out. I'm sure they heard the gun shot from outside. Could you…?" he nodded toward Jones' walkie-talkie, seeing as his was busy helping Neal.

Jones nodded and picked up his walkie-talkie from the floor. "This is Jones. We need an ambulance; Larry shot Caffrey and then ran out a side exit."

"Jones, this is Tucker. We got Larry coming out one of the exits. I believe Berrigan is reading him his rights as we speak." Tucker said proudly. "And we already called in an ambulance, should be there soon."

"Good. I'll go help contain all the guests." Jones got up slowly. "I'll bring the EMS back here when they arrive."

"Alright, thanks Jones." Peter continued to apply pressure to Neal's arm.

"Peter?" Neal asked softly. "I…I don't think the bullet went through and through."

Peter frowned. He didn't know much about gunshot wounds, but he knew that there could be problems if the bullet was still inside Neal's shoulder.

"Hey, don't worry, help should be here soon." Peter said, trying to cover up the worry in his voice. There was so much blood…could the EMS possibly get here any faster?

"Neal, keep your eyes open." Peter looked down and saw that Neal was fighting to keep his eyes open.

"Just…tired." Neal whispered.

"I know, but just stay awake until the EMS gets here." Peter said, and thankfully Neal made an attempt to keep his eyes open. Peter wasn't trying to think about it but how could he avoid it—Neal took a bullet that was intended for him…

It was another minute or two before Jones lead the EMS to Neal, but to Peter, it felt like hours. They brought a stretcher out and once Neal caught eye of it, he began to try and stand up on his own.

"Neal, stop." Peter put a hand on Neal's good shoulder. "Please, just forget about your damn dignity right now and let them help you."

Neal caved and let the EMS and Peter help him onto the stretcher. Walking alongside Neal, Peter heard someone call out.

"Peter!" _Elizabeth…_

He turned around and saw his wife with concern etched all over her face.

"Hon, I…I have to go with him…" Peter left it open. They both knew what he meant. If he didn't go to be with Neal, who else would?

"I know. Go. Call me when you get the chance." Elizabeth quickly kissed Peter and then let him run off towards the ambulance.

Peter made it just as they were done getting Neal inside. "Hey," he called out to one of the EMS, "I need to go with him."

"Alright, sir. But only if you make sure to stay out of our way." said one of the females.

"I will." Peter hopped in and sat down. It was pretty hard to stay out of the way and let the EMS work on Neal since the ambulance wasn't exactly the largest space in the world. Though, he did listen to the EMS and let them do their job. He desperately wanted to tell Neal that he was right there with him but he wasn't able to get a word in between the EMS yelling medical terminology. Before Peter knew it, they arrived at the hospital and Neal was wheeled out. He quickly followed behind but the same female EMS let the other's take Neal past some doors. She turned around and faced him.

"Sorry, sir, but you aren't allowed back there."

"He's going to be fine, right?"

"He's healthy and young which is always good in these situations. He did lose a lot of blood which can complicate things but the doctors know what they're doing here so your friend's in good hands. I don't think you have anything to worry about." The EMS gave a reassuring smile. A moment later, the doors that they took Neal through opened up again and out came the rest of the EMS.

"Well, I gotta go. Tell your friend to get well soon." She blushed a bit. "And that he has the most amazing blue eyes I've ever seen."

"I'll do that." Peter smiled. Neal would be able to charm an EMS after getting shot and being half-conscious. After watching the EMS leave, he pulled out his cell and called Elizabeth.

"Hey, honey." Peter said tiredly as he walked over to some waiting chairs.

"_How is he?" _Elizabeth asked directly.

"They say he'll be fine. He's probably in surgery right now."

"_Which hospital?"_

"El, you don't need to come. I have no clue when I'll even be able to see him."

"_That doesn't matter. I want to be there for him. And you too. I can tell you're already beating yourself up over something that was out of your hands."_

Peter sighed, was it that obvious over the phone?

"Okay. We're at Lenox Hill."

"_See you soon. Love you."_ With that, Elizabeth hung up.

Peter cradled his phone in his hands. Looking down, he was shocked to see his hands covered in blood. Neal's blood from when he was trying to stop the bleeding.

_How did I not notice that?_ Peter thought bitterly.

Getting up, he found a public bathroom not too far from the waiting area and went to wash up. Looking in the mirror, he spotted more blood on his suit. But that didn't matter right now. Walking back out, Peter knew that Elizabeth wouldn't get there for a little while so he sat back down, not knowing what to do next. Neal just took a bullet for him. Neal who was a con-artist extraordinaire turned FBI consultant. The _technological virtuoso_ who he had lunch with daily was now in surgery to remove a bullet that wasn't meant for him.

Taking out his phone, Peter debated on calling Elizabeth again to see how far away she was. But that decision was made for him when he saw that the battery was exhausted. It was probably for the best since now he wouldn't get any calls from the office about the case. Tucker was the lead agent on the case anyway so he'd probably be busy handling all the dirty work at the moment. Peter's thoughts were interrupted when he felt a hand on his shoulder and nearly jumped out of the chair.

"Peter, relax, it's just me." Elizabeth sat down in the chair next to Peter's. She was still wearing her remarkable dress but he noticed her eyes were wet with unshed tears. "Any news?"

"No, not yet. But I can go ask someone at the desk." Peter got up and went over to an older lady standing behind a desk in the front of the waiting room.

"Excuse me, but I was wondering if I could get any information on my friend." Peter asked hopefully, knowing that the lady might not give out Neal's status since he wasn't family.

"Sure, dear, what's your friend's name?" The lady put on her reading glasses and turned toward the computer.

"Neal Caffrey. I was told he was being brought straight into surgery." Peter spotted a hand-made card sticking out under some patient files that had _Grandma Paula_ sloppily written by a young kid.

Paula typed into the computer. "Ah, yes, Mr. Caffrey was brought in with a GSW to the right shoulder. But, I'm terribly sorry, sir, I can't give you any more information unless you're family."

Peter sighed and decided that he ought to try using his agent status. Pulling out his badge, he held it up to Paula so she could read it.

"I'm Agent Peter Burke with the FBI, and Mr. Caffrey is my consultant. He was shot during a takedown and it is crucial I know his condition." It wasn't necessarily _crucial_ to the bureau, but it was crucial that he and Elizabeth knew that he was okay.

"Did you say you're Peter Burke?" Paula asked, looked back at the computer.

"Yes, why?"

"It looks like you're in luck Agent Burke. You're consultant has you listed as his Power of Attorney." Paula smiled.

"What?" Peter was shocked. Neal never mentioned that. Usually Neal leaves little things out, and Peter puts up with it, but this was a pretty big thing not to talk about.

"Yes, sir, you are. I know my eyes aren't as good as they use to be but it's listed here clear as day."

"Oh." Peter didn't know what to say.

"I suppose you'd still like to know how your consultant is?"

"Yeah, that'd be great."

"Looks like Mr. Caffrey just finished up surgery right now. I'm sure his doctor will be out shortly to talk to you."

"Alright, thank you for your help." Peter nodded.

"No problem, dear. I hope you're friend gets better." Paula said as she went back to filing information.

Peter walked back over to where Elizabeth was still sitting. Neal made him Power of Attorney? Why not the little guy? He was feeling terrible about the whole thing. Sure, Neal trusted him enough to make him PoA, but he also trusted Peter to have his back. Which Peter knew he didn't do since he was the reason Neal was here in the first place.

"What's wrong? Peter, you have that look on your face." Elizabeth stated worriedly.

"Wrong? No, nothing's wrong except Neal taking a bullet for me and making me his Power of Attorney." Peter sat back down in the chair.

"What?" Elizabeth was shocked. "Honey, you said Neal got shot. Now you're saying he took a bullet for you. What happened?" Elizabeth turned and looked her husband in the eye.

Peter took a deep breath. "Jones cuffed Larry, the thief, and I was walking in front of them with Neal on my side. We heard someone fall and so we turned around and saw Jones knocked out on the floor and Larry holding his gun. He had the gun on Neal while he was looking for an exit and then once he found one, he pointed his gun at me and pulled the trigger. Neal pushed me to the floor and ended up getting hit in the shoulder. Rest is history," he finished resentfully.

"Oh, Peter, please stop blaming yourself." Elizabeth took Peter's hand into her own. "Neal obviously knew what he was risking and took a chance. Hon, you didn't do anything wrong. But, being here for Neal right now is most important. Now what's this about being his Power of Attorney?"

"The lady behind the desk wouldn't tell me anything so I flashed my badge and then she said that I was listed as his PoA. He never told me…"

"This is Neal were talking about, right? Does it really surprise you? It doesn't matter that he didn't tell you. What matters is that he chose you the first place. Not Mozzie, _you_." She smiled.

"Why are you smiling?"

"I told you he trusts you."

Peter was about to say something, but stopped. He knew Elizabeth was right. Trust was always a touchy subject for him and Neal. And Peter knew that Neal didn't just hand out his trust to just anyone.

"Family of Neal Caffrey?" A male voice called out from where the doors took Neal when they came to the hospital. Peter and Elizabeth walked over to him. "Hi, I'm Dr. Jacobs." He shook Peter's hand. "We just finished up surgery and Neal is doing great."

"So he'll make a full recovery?" Peter asked.

"Yes, I believe so. We had to remove the bullet which was lodged right about here," Dr. Jacobs pointed to a spot on his own shoulder, "which was a little tricky. The trajectory of the bullet was a diagonal so I imagine he was running when he was shot?"

"No. I'm FBI," Peter took out his badge, "Neal is my consultant. Our suspect overpowered another agent and got a gun and took a shot." There wasn't really a need to go around telling everyone that Neal use to be a criminal. No…he'd just leave that part out.

"Oh, I'm sorry about that." Dr. Jacobs said sympathetically. "Right now he's doing fine. I'd like him to stay here for a few days so we can monitor him for any infections and then we'll get him signed up for some physical therapy following discharge."

"Thank you." Elizabeth said. "Can we see him now?" she asked eagerly.

"You can. He might be asleep or a little tired from the anesthesia. But, that should wear off soon." Dr. Jacobs turned to a passing nurse. "Could you take these two to room 324?"

"Sure." she said happily.

"I'll check up on Neal a little later." Dr. Jacobs said before walking away.

"Thanks." Peter said before the nurse lead them to the elevator and to Neal's room.

"Here you guys are. Room 324." The nurse peaked into the room. "Looks like he's still sleeping but you guys can wait for him to wake up." She opened the door all the way and let Peter and Elizabeth go in front of her. "My name is Julie, by the way. Let me just check a few things and then I'll get out of your hair." Julie walked and adjusted some of the things around Neal's bed. "Looks like everything is fine right now. I'll be back later." She smiled and walked out.

Elizabeth and Peter were finally left alone with Neal. If Peter was feeling guilty before, looking at Neal made him feel ten times worse. Neal was wearing a hideous hospital gown. Peter could see bandages sticking out around the shoulder area. Seeing Neal like this was just …odd.

"At least it doesn't look like he's hurting." Elizabeth said as she pulled up a chair next to the bed. She took Neal's hand in her own. "I wonder when he'll wake up."

"Dr. Jacobs said soon." Peter stood next to Elizabeth.

"Hon, pull up a chair."

"No, no. I'm fine standing. I've sat enough." Peter said. He was still taking all of this in. It was a weird sight. Elizabeth was still dressed in her fancy dress and he was still wearing one of his good suits.

Elizabeth slowly got up out of her chair. "Would you mind terribly if I run home and change? I can bring you back something to change into here. And I'll need to let Satch out too." She also realized how overdressed they were. Peter didn't mention it, but she knew that they were going to stay the night here for Neal. "I'll probably stop by June's and pick some things up for Neal."

"Good idea. I'll be here when you get back. I love you." Peter kissed her.

"Love you too." She picked up her purse and left the room.

Now it was just Peter by himself. He was sort of regretting letting Elizabeth go off. That meant when Neal woke up, he'd be alone. What was he supposed to say? _Thanks for getting shot for me. See you soon._ He was terrible at this and he knew it.

Peter realized he was pacing and stopped, facing the door, hoping Elizabeth would walk back in. He took a deep breath and released it.

"What am I going to do?"

"You could get me some water." A voice mumbled from the bed.

Peter spun around and saw that Neal was just waking up. "Neal? You alright?" He sat down in the chair Elizabeth pulled up.

"I've been better." Neal adjusted himself a bit and winced when he shifted his left shoulder.

"Should I get a nurse?" Peter stood up.

"That might be a good idea." Neal closed his eyes tightly.

Peter reached over and pressed the nurse call button. Not even a minute later, Julie walked in. "Mr. Caffrey, good to see you awake. Are you in any pain?"

Neal nodded.

Julie took the chart from the front of Neal's bed and read over some sheets. "Dr. Jacobs said we could increase the morphine when you woke up." She walked over to some hanging bags and adjusted the drip. "This should help with the pain. Let me know if I can get you anything else."

"Ah, he said he wanted some water." Peter spoke up.

"No problem. I'll be right back." Julie left the room.

Peter sat back down in the chair next to the bed. "Hey, how are you feeling?" The morphine must be doing its job since Neal look much more relaxed and in less pain.

"Much better."

"That's…good." Peter said awkwardly.

They were silent for a while; neither knowing what to say. Thankfully, Julie came back and the silence was lifted.

"Here you go." Julie stuck a straw in the cup. "Dr. Jacobs should be around here soon to check in. If anything else comes up, just press the button. "

After Julie left, Peter knew that this was the right moment to talk. He knew they had to talk about it eventually.

"So…Elizabeth was here."

"Really?" Neal was surprised. "She didn't have to come."

"You try telling her that." Peter chuckled. "She went home to change and she'll bring some stuff over for us."

"Us?"

"Yeah, Elizabeth thought…_we_ thought you might like some company tonight." Peter admitted. "I mean…that is if you want us to stay."

Neal smiled. "I'd like that."

Silence filled the room once again. _It was now or never_.

Peter sighed. "Why'd you do it?" He hoped Neal wouldn't think this as an interrogation.

"What?" After Neal said it, he realized what Peter wanted to talk about. He was sort of hoping they would get to it another time…but he knew avoiding it would just make it worse.

"Why'd you push me out of the way?"

"Because I saw a chance and took it." Neal said, knowing that was only half the answer Peter was looking for.

"Neal, you're not an agent. You're not expendable. It's not your job to take those risks."

Neal frowned. He wasn't expecting anything big, just a simple 'thank you' would be enough. "So…you're mad I saved your life?"

"What? No! I…I'm grateful. It's just…" Peter didn't know how to say it.

"Just what?" Neal wanted an answer.

"I was worried, okay? Opening my eyes and seeing you on the floor bleeding out isn't a pretty sight."

They were quiet again. Knowing that Peter was worried about his well-being meant a lot to Neal.

Neal sighed. "I couldn't just stand there…with Elizabeth down the hall. I didn't want her to go through that."

"Thank you. I really mean it." Peter smiled; for Neal, and partially because he knew the awkward-emotional talk was finally over.

"So did they catch Larry? I don't really remember…"

"Yeah, we got him. Tucker was pretty pleased with t—"

_Bzzz...Bzz_z

Peter looked on the side table and saw that Elizabeth accidentally left her phone. Someone was calling, so he picked it up.

"Hello?"

"_Peter, we've been trying to call you for the last hour. I thought we'd try Elizabeth's phone._" Jones said tiredly.

"Sorry, my phone died. What's so urgent?"

Neal watched Peter's face drop. He couldn't hear what Jones had said over the phone.

"I'll try and be there tomorrow. Thanks, Jones." Peter hung up.

"What's wrong?" Neal asked.

"Shelby's gone. She took the Haustenberg."

* * *

><p><strong>(AN):** A smaller cliffhanger? Haha, not as big is the last one cause I know how much you all loved that. This was a bit difficult to write, seeing as I'm neither a shooting victim or a doctor. So, I apologize if you see anything medically incorrect. Anyone think Peter was the one who got shot? Well, I almost wrote that...but I ended up choosing Neal because I love writing Peter's awkwardness at trying to explain his feelings. :) Thanks so much for all the alerts/favorites/reviews! And to cooliokiddo and LvSammy, whom I couldn't thanks personally.

**Fun Facts:**

Lenox Hill is actually a real hospital. According to some reviews I found, it's one of the best!

Room 324? Look at your phones...what's that spell? Of course I'm sure you all remembered that from the Pilot ;)


	6. Chapter 6

_"Shelby's gone. She took the Haustenberg."_

"What?" Neal was shocked. Shelby couldn't have taken the painting…

"Yeah, Jones said that when everyone was busy containing the guests and taking down Larry, she snuck in and stole it. We have footage of her getting in a cab with it and that's it."

Neal shook his head. "I just can't believe she took it. She got so worked up about getting caught. I guess it was all a lie."

"Looks like she conned all of us." Peter put Elizabeth's phone back on the table. "We'll find her soon enough."

"Yeah." Neal agreed. "Besides, we can still interrogate Larry tomorrow."

"We? I don't think so. Doctor said he wanted you here for a few days."

Neal sighed. He just woke up and was already sick of the bland room. "You're joking."

"I'm afraid he's not." A voice said from the doorway. "I'm Dr. Jacobs. I'm glad to see you awake and alert, Mr. Caffrey." Dr. Jacobs walked over to them and shook Peter's hand. "And nice to see you again, Peter."

"You too." Peter shook back.

"I thought I'd check in." He picked up the clipboard on the edge of the bed. "Are you feeling any pain or discomfort in your shoulder?"

"Not much. It feels better now than it did when I woke up." Neal answered.

"That's good to hear. Looks like Julie adjusted your morphine a bit." Dr. Jacobs flipped through the papers and then placed the clipboard back down. "If you are feeling any pain, don't hesitate to push this button right here." He walked over and pointed to a button on some machine. "It is adjusted to give you a specific dose of morphine, but it will only work every so often. Any questions?"

"Just one." Neal said. "When can I get out of here?"

Dr. Jacobs chuckled. "Well, Mr. Caffrey, if you're doing as well as you are right now, I'd say in a few days. We'd like to monitor you for any infections. After getting discharged, I suggest you see make regular appointments with a physical therapist. You will need to rebuild some of that damaged muscle in your shoulder. Any more questions?"

"No, I think we're good here." Peter said.

"Well, then I'm off to finish the rest of my rounds. Good night." Dr. Jacobs smiled and left the room.

"A few days? Maybe I'll just sign myself out AMA…" Neal started…

"I don't think so. You're staying here even if I have to cuff you to the railing." Peter threatened, though, he knew that Neal would just end up picking the cuffs.

"That reminds me, no anklet? Peter, I'm surprised." Neal smiled.

"You were off anklet for the case. I think we can manage without it for a few more days."

"Sounds good to me." Neal was delighted.

"But Neal, once you get discharged, the anklet gets put back on. Understand?" Peter said seriously.

"Understood." Neal knew his time without the anklet wouldn't last forever.

"Hey, you two." They turned and saw Elizabeth walk in with a couple of bags. "How are you feeling, Neal?"

"I'm good, thanks. What do you have in there?" Neal sat up some more, being watchful to his injured shoulder.

"I just had to get out of that dress so I went home to change and let Satch out. This bag," Elizabeth handed a bag over to Peter, "has your change of clothes."

Peter took the bag eagerly. He was ready to get out of his bloodstained suit.

"And this bag has some clothes for you, Neal, when you're feeling okay to change. I went over to your place and talked to June. She's glad you're alright." Elizabeth placed the bag on the end of the bed and pulled up a chair next to Peter's.

"Thanks El, this is great." Neal smiled thankfully.

"It's no problem, sweetie. Oh, and I also picked up your sketchpad, some pencils, and a deck of cards that was lying around. Just in case you get bored."

"I have a feeling that won't take long." Neal yawned. He was surprised at how tired he was.

"Why don't you get some sleep?" Elizabeth said.

"Nah, I'm not tired." Neal waved his good arm sluggishly.

"Neal, you can barely keep your eyes open." Peter pointed out. "Get some rest. We'll be here in the morning."

"'Kay." And with that, Neal succumbed to sleep.

For a few minutes, Peter and Elizabeth just sat and listened to Neal's even breathing.

"So," Elizabeth broke the silence, "Did you two talk at all about…you know…"

"Yeah. We took care of most of it." Peter answered.

"Most?" Elizabeth looked at Peter quizzically.

"Well, we talked about the shooting and all. I just didn't ask him about making me his Power of Attorney. I…didn't want him to think it was an interrogation." Peter admitted. He could always ask Neal tomorrow.

Elizabeth leaned over and kissed Peter. "I married a good man." She smiled. "Now go get changed so we can get some sleep too."

Peter got up and grabbed the bag filled with his fresh clothes and went to the nearby bathroom. Upon returning to Neal's room, he found that Elizabeth was already fast asleep in her chair. He smiled as he sat down in his chair next to her and moved a stray hair from her face.

_Yeah, he still had it all._

* * *

><p>It was mid-day when Neal and Peter opened up the pack of cards Elizabeth brought from June's. She had to leave earlier to meet with a client about an upcoming event. Neal suggested they play a couple of rounds of Find the Lady. Though, because of Neal's shoulder, he wasn't able to shift the cards around with one hand, so Peter did it instead. A couple of rounds in, Peter was getting bored; Neal kept finding the lady every time. But, he didn't say anything since it was keeping Neal occupied.<p>

"She's on the left." Neal mumbled.

"Your left or my left?" Peter asked.

"Your left." Neal specified.

Peter flipped the card on his left over and was surprised to see the queen staring back at him.

"How did you do that?" Peter asked curiously.

"Do what?"

"How did you know the Queen was there? You had your eyes closed!"

"A true con never reveals his secrets." Neal smiled and opened his eyes.

"Okay, another round. You won't find it this time." Peter flipped the queen over and began shifting the cards as fast as he could. Except, one of the cards slipped off the table and onto Neal's bed.

"Hold on, I got it." Neal reached over with and winced, realizing he moved his injured shoulder to grab the card by instinct. He squinted his eyes; hoping Peter didn't notice his mishap.

"Neal? Are you alright?" Peter asked cautiously.

"Yeah," Neal took a deep breath and opened his eyes, "I'm fine, see?" He could hear his heart rate monitor deceive him.

"No, you're not." Peter got up from his chair and walked to the other side of Neal's bed. He looked at the morphine drip and frowned. "Neal, you have it turned on the lowest notch. And you're obviously in pain. What were you thinking?"

"Peter, I'm flattered you care so much, but really, I'm fine." Neal flashed a smile, but Peter wasn't buying it.

"Neal, cut the crap. There's no reason for you to be in pain."

"Yeah, there is. I really hate that stuff, Peter." Neal sighed.

Peter paused for a second, debating what to do. He hated seeing Neal like this.

"I'm sorry, Neal, but this is for your own good." Peter pressed a button on the machine a few times and waited as it administered its dose. The effect was almost instantaneous as Neal started to blink sluggishly.

"Peter…" Neal dragged out Peter's name before he finally succumbed to the meds.

"Sorry, Neal." Peter said again, knowing Neal couldn't hear him. He was starting to feel guilty again, seeing Neal in pain like this. Talking about it last night helped some, but he still felt terrible about the whole thing. Realizing Neal would probably be out of it for a while; he could head over to the office and see how things were going there. Grabbing Neal's sketchpad and pencil that Elizabeth brought, he left Neal a short note telling him that he was heading to the office. Peter put the sketchpad down on the table and walked to the door. Turning around one last time, he looked at Neal who was still asleep and walked out.

* * *

><p>When Peter walked into the office, Jones spotted him and got out of his chair.<p>

"Peter, I didn't think you'd come in today." Jones said surprised.

"Neither did I."

"Oh, well, how's Neal? He's doing alright?"

"He's better. Should be out in a day or two."

"That's great." Jones smiled.

Peter began to walk up the stairs to his office, but Jones stopped him.

"Just so you know, Larry was just brought into the interrogation room about five minutes ago. And Tucker told me if you came in to meet him back there."

"Okay, thanks Jones."

Peter changed his direction to the interrogation room in the other side of the office. What could Tucker possibly want? Right now it didn't matter; all Peter wanted to do was interrogate Larry, find Shelby, and get back to Neal.

"Burke, glad you came." Tucker greeted from the door to the interrogation room, where Larry was sitting, cuffed. "How's Caffrey?"

"He's doing better." Peter looked into the room, directly at Larry. "Jones said you wanted to tell me something?"

"Well, yeah. I thought you'd like to join me in the interrogation. With you assisting the case and all."

"Sure. I'd be happy to." Peter opened the door. "Let's get this over with."

When they walked in, Larry turned his head to the door and caught sight of Peter.

Larry chuckled. "Wondered when I'd be seeing you again. How's your little friend doing?"

"He's doing great, for your information. Should make a full recovery." Peter said as he sat down in the chair across from Larry. Tucker did the same.

Larry nodded. "Good to hear." He smiled.

"What are you smiling about? Huh?" Tucker said, angrily. Peter thought he must have a short temper or something. If Tucker wants to be a head agent, he'd have to get his anger under control.

"Oh nothing." Larry turned to Peter. "Just trying to wrap my head around everything. Why would Neal Caffrey, of all people, take a bullet for _you_? What makes you so special?"

Peter's stomach did a flip.

"You know Caffrey?" Tucker asked.

"Who doesn't? He's a legend to a lot of us." Larry laughed. "I should say _was_ a legend. Couldn't believe my ears when I got wind he was a consultant for the FBI!"

"Hey, we didn't come in here to talk about Caffrey, alright? Now, I'd like you to tell me a little about your girlfriend, Shelby Marks."

Larry laughed. "You gotta be kidding me, man. She isn't my girlfriend."

"Not according to what she told us the other day." Peter spoke up.

"I'm telling you she isn't my girlfriend." Larry said again, more seriously this time. "What the hell did she tell you?"

"She told us that you've been forcing her to help you in stealing several paintings from the Channing."

"That little shit!" Larry spit out. "Who the hell does she think she is?" He shouted.

"I'm guessing you have a different story?" Peter asked.

"First off, she came to _me_! She was looking for a thief to do the dirty work for her. She told me I'd get half the cut for each painting." Larry explained.

"Tell us about the Haustenberg heist." Tucker said.

"Shelby contacted me and said she wanted to do one more heist. We got into a fight about our cuts of the profit and she ended up saying she'd go and do it herself." Larry explained.

"That makes sense. Neal caught Shelby trying to break into the safe. She pinned it on you." Peter recalled.

"Yeah, well, then she calls me up and tells me she'll give me my original deal of 50% if I took the painting during the party."

"So, you agree. We catch you, then you take a shot and run. And while they're making the arrest, Shelby takes the painting and runs."

"And the rest is history." Larry said bitterly.

"Do you have any idea where she'd be?" Tucker asked.

"We used a warehouse by the Hudson." Larry said as Tucker handed him a pen and paper. "This is the address. Doubt she'd be stupid enough to actually still be there."

"It's worth a shot." Peter got up out of the chair and exited the room. He heard Tucker follow him.

"I'll go organize a team to go to the warehouse." Tucker folded the paper that held the address.

"I can come." Peter offered. He wanted to do something useful.

"No." Tucker shook his head. "If anyone needs you right now, it's Caffrey."

"You sure?" Peter was a bit hesitant to head back to hospital. He was worried about Neal getting mad about him about their disagreement earlier.

"Positive. Tell him to get well soon. These cases aren't solving themselves!" Tucker joked.

"Thanks." Peter made his way out of the office and into the Taurus.

* * *

><p>Peter walked quietly into Neal's room, in case he was still sleeping. Taking a close look, he saw that Neal had his eyes closed. Peter figured that he could at least catch the rest of the game on the hospital TV. It wasn't like the nice flat screen at home, but it would work. Now, if he could only find the damn remote…<p>

"Looking for this?"

Peter turned around and saw that Neal was awake, grinning largely, and shaking the remote with his good hand.

"Neal! I didn't know you were awake." Peter sat down in the chair next to the bed.

Neal put down the remote and frowned. "You left…"

"I'm sorry; I had to head down to the office. Didn't you read my note?"

"No."

"Well, I left it right here." Peter reached over to the sketchpad on the table at the end of the bed and held it up to Neal.

"Um…I can't read it."

"What? Why not? Is something wrong?" Peter was concerned.

"'Cause everything's all blurry, y'know? Makes things hard to see." Neal leaned his head back against his pillow and sighed.

"Oh." Peter realized the drugs were still working their charm.

"I don't like this. Do you know when it's gonna stop, Peter? I like seeing clearly."

"I don't know. Don't worry, it should wear off soon." Peter put down the sketch pad.

Neal's head shot up. "What if it doesn't? What if I'm stuck like this forever? I'll never be able to read again!"

"Neal, calm down! You're getting worked up for no reason." Peter put a supportive hand on Neal's good shoulder to calm him down. Maybe he pressed the dosage button too much...

"What am I going to do?" Neal didn't calm down. He was truly horrified at not being able to see. "I won't be able to see where I'm going, or…or see the view of the city at June's, or read case files! Wait…that isn't too bad. Would the FBI still let me be a consultant if I couldn't read? No! Of course not, I wouldn't be able to look at forgeries!"

"Neal, I'm serious, you need to relax." Peter said calmly.

"Easy for you to say! You can see!" Neal pointed out. "You don't understand…" He shook his head.

"Hey, if you close your eyes for a few minutes, I bet you'll be able to see when you open them. Do you want to try that?"

"Yeah, okay." Neal took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "I think it's working!" He said a minute later.

"That's great, Neal." Peter took out his phone. "I have to step outside and call Elizabeth real quick, but I'll come right back, okay?"

Neal nodded. He was too busy focusing on getting his sight back that he wasn't really paying attention to what Peter was saying.

Peter got up and walked outside the room. Standing by the door, he dialed for Elizabeth.

"_Hello?"_

"Hey, honey." Peter was thankful she picked up. "How's work?"

"_It's fine. Now what's wrong? I know you didn't call me to ask how work is. How is Neal?"_

"Uh…he's a little out of it right now."

"_Why's that? Is everything alright?"_

"No, everything okay. It's just that Neal wasn't using his morphine drip and I called him on it. He said he hated the stuff, and I can see why now, but he was in pain and I couldn't sit there and watch him like that." Peter explained. "So, I pressed the button and I may have given him the highest dose. It put him out so I went to the office for a little while. I came back, and now he's worried he'll never be able to see again."

Elizabeth laughed. _"Oh, honey. You did the right thing. If roles were reversed, Neal would do the same for you."_

"Yeah. Um, when do you think you'll be able to stop by?" Peter asked. He didn't know how he'd handle Neal on his own.

"_Not for another hour at least. I can stop and get some Chinese on my way. We can eat it there. Do you think Neal can have any?"_

"Not sure."

"_Well, I'll get an extra egg roll just in case."_

"Sounds good. I'll see you soon. Love you."

"_Love you too, hon."_ Elizabeth hung up.

Peter put his phone back in his pockets and ran a hand through his hair. He really wished Elizabeth could get here sooner. Hoping Neal was over his sight problem, Peter opened the door and went back into the room. Walking to his chair, he saw that Neal still had his eyes closed and was breathing evenly. Neal was definitely sleeping this time. Peter reached over and grabbed the remote to turn on the TV. He muted the volume so that Neal wouldn't wake up. It'd probably be best if he slept the rest of the meds off. Peter just hoped that Neal wouldn't be mad at him when he woke up…

* * *

><p><strong>(AN):** Hey, all! I apologize for the long wait. I forgot to mention that I was heading to the beach for a few days. But, I'm back now and have a lot of ideas for the story. I've gotten a couple requests about having Neal a little crazy because of the meds (like in Vital Signs) but I didn't want it to be too silly. So, I hope this chapter was alright! Thank you so much for all the love this story is getting!


	7. Chapter 7

Peter was watching the end of the game when Elizabeth walked in with dinner in her hands.

"Hey, you," she smiled. "I come bearing food." Elizabeth put the bag of Chinese on the table at the end of the bed.

"Hey, yourself." Peter turned off the TV and got up to kiss Elizabeth. "Did you get the usual?"

"Yes, and some extra food for Neal. I asked a nurse outside and she said it'd be okay for him to have some." Elizabeth started taking the food out of the bag.

"Something smells good."

Peter and Elizabeth turned their heads to Neal, who was just waking up.

"Glad to see you're awake. Elizabeth just came with some dinner."

"Great. I'm starving." Neal sat up slowly.

"All right, here you go." Elizabeth filled a plate with an assortment of food and held it in her hand while she reached in the bag to get a napkin.

Peter, thinking the plate was for him, reached over to take it. But, Elizabeth pulled away.

"Hon, this is Neal's." Elizabeth pushed the wheeled table closer to Neal and placed the plate down.

"Thank you, Elizabeth." Neal glanced at Peter and smirked.

"Oh, grow up," Peter mumbled as he took his plate from Elizabeth. "So, Neal, can you see now?"

Neal looked up at Peter in confusion. "See what?"

_He must not remember…_ Peter thought. "Oh, nothing. Forget I said anything." He went back to eating his dinner.

"Peter, come on, can I see what?"

Peter didn't know whether to tell Neal about earlier or not. If he did, he was afraid Neal would get mad at him about giving him the drugs. Neal said he didn't want them, but Peter did it anyway.

"I…" Peter looked to Elizabeth who was silently telling him to keep going. "We were playing cards earlier, you remember?"

"Yeah." Neal didn't see where this was going.

"Well, you moved your shoulder and I could tell you were hurting."

Neal didn't say anything, so Peter kept talking.

"So, I took matters into my own hands and pressed the button on that machine," Peter gestured towards the machine next to Neal's bed, "a couple of times and the drugs put you out. I went to the office for a bit and came back. I left you a note before I left but you said everything was blurry and couldn't see. You got pretty worked up about it."

Elizabeth kicked him lightly on the leg.

"What I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry."

Neal's expression was hard to read. But after a moment, he gave a half smile. "Apology accepted, Peter. I didn't say anything incriminating, did I?"

"Nope," Peter answered truthfully.

"Well, then I think we're okay." Neal smiled.

A few more minutes and they were all done eating. While cleaning up, Elizabeth remembered something.

"Oh, Peter, I forgot to tell you that Robert called me earlier. He said he tried calling you but you didn't pick up."

"I had my phone on silent. Why, what's up?" Peter asked.

"He said he finally got some time off from work. He'll be bringing Whitney and the girls Monday."

"That's great!" Peter said happily.

Elizabeth turned to Neal. "Robert is Peter's older brother."

"Yeah, I remember you guys talking about them coming before," Neal said. Actually, he remembered all too well. Elizabeth had told him he'd have to come by and meet everyone and then he made a half-promise; since he was still undercover. But now that the case is almost closed, there isn't anything preventing him from meeting Peter's family. Who would want to meet an ex-con? Maybe he could help June with one of her fundraisers…

"I think you'll like him," Peter commented.

"Is he FBI too?" Neal asked.

"Nope, art teacher." Peter smiled. "High school I think."

"Interesting." Neal smiled. "I think I like him already."

"I thought so."

They spent the rest of the night talking. Elizabeth was telling them about her newest client and Peter told them about Larry's interrogation earlier.

"So Tucker sent a team to check out the warehouse?" Neal asked.

"Yeah. I'll probably call him tomorrow and see how that went. Larry said Shelby wouldn't be there but I wouldn't trust him."

Elizabeth yawned.

Neal knew that the hospital wasn't the most comfortable place to sleep. He was glad that Peter and Elizabeth stayed the last night, but he felt bad for making them spend so much time in a cramped hospital room.

"Listen," Neal started, "I know you two want to help and all, but I think that tonight you guys should sleep in your own beds."

"Are you sure? It's really no trouble," Elizabeth said.

"No, really, it's okay. You two have done more than enough. I'll be fine here."

"Alright, well we better get going then," Peter said as he and Elizabeth got up and stood by the door. "I'll come by sometime tomorrow."

"Sounds good to me. Bye, Elizabeth. Thanks for dinner."

"No problem. Now get some rest."

Neal watched them leave. He knew it was the right thing to do. Peter was probably as sick of this place as he was. And Elizabeth had to go to work tomorrow. They didn't need to be here. Neal lay there for a few minutes before reaching for his cell. He wondered if Mozzie was still up...

* * *

><p>It was another two days before Neal was discharged from the hospital and he couldn't be any happier. He just got done changing into a pair of khakis and a green polo when Peter came in.<p>

"Hey. Looks like you're ready to go." Peter eyed the arm sling on the bed. "Neal, aren't you supposed to be wearing that?"

"Come on Peter, I've been wearing it for days. I'm taking a break."

"I'm serious, you should be wearing it. Look, they even gave you a black one; it'll match your silly hat."

Neal put some clothes into his bag. "It's not a silly hat, it's a _fedora_," he corrected.

Peter waved a hand. "I know what it's called." He decided to change the subject. "So, you start physical therapy today, right?"

"Yeah, can't you see how excited I am?" Neal asked sarcastically.

"Clearly," Peter said, equally sarcastic. "I'll drop you off once we get out of here."

Neal nodded as he grabbed his sketchpad and some pencils and put them into the bag. Peter couldn't help but notice it one of the sketches.

"Isn't that one of the nurses? Julie?" Peter walked closer to the sketchpad, which Neal was moving it farther away from him.

"Maybe." Neal held the sketchpad protectively. He didn't really like to let other people see his original works. He was a forger at heart. It might seem cowardly; hiding behind another's works. But to Neal, copying someone else's art came much easily to him than his own.

Neal tried to turn around and hold out the sketchpad away from Peter, but Peter was quicker. He snatched the sketchpad out of Neal's hand and opened it while backing up. Peter's jaw dropped. There was the one sketch of Julie that he caught a glimpse of. One of Elizabeth, smiling perfectly. One with a bald man with glasses sitting on a park bench, which had to be Mozzie. Turning to the last page, Peter couldn't believe it—there was a picture of _him_! He was sitting in his office, concentrating on a file. There was so much detail in the sketch; it was flawless. Peter looked up and saw Neal's face was turning bright red.

"Neal…these are…" He couldn't find the right words to do Neal's sketches justice.

Neal hung his head. "I know, they're not that good," he said self-consciously.

"No! That's not what I meant at all." Peter closed the sketchpad and held it in his hands. "Neal, these are fantastic! Why didn't you tell me you were that good?"

Neal was shocked. "What?"

"I'm not kidding, these are really good." Peter smiled. "I'm holding an original Neal Caffrey."

Neal laughed. "You're right. I should charge you a fee just for holding those."

"How about I get a discount today?"

"Fine, just for today."

"Hey, Neal." Julie walked in pushing a wheelchair.

"Julie. How are you this fine afternoon?" Neal turned on his charm.

"I'm doing good." Julie smiled and then noticed the sling still on the bed. "Neal, you were supposed to put that back on after you changed."

"Oh, that." Neal shrugged. "It must have slipped my mind."

"Sure it did." Peter quipped.

Neal reluctantly put on the sling and got the rest of his stuff put into his bag.

"Okay, looks like you're ready to go." Julie patted the seat of the wheelchair. "Hop on."

Neal eyed the chair like it was going to bite his arm off. Looking at Julie, he flashed a smile. "As much fun as it'd be to have someone wheel me around, I don't think that will be necessary."

"Sorry, Neal, that's not going to cut it. It's hospital protocol." Julie glanced at Peter. "Would you want your friend to push you instead?"

"What?" Peter spun his head around.

"You know, that's a wonderful idea, Julie." Neal smirked at Peter and sat down in the wheelchair, holding his all his stuff.

"I can't believe I'm doing this." Peter shook his head as he started to push Neal out of the room. Thankfully, Julie stuck around to see them out.

"Oh, almost forgot. Let me go get your prescription." Julie walked in another direction while Peter continued to push Neal.

"This is actually quite nice," Neal said happily.

"Shut it."

Once they made it to the doors, Peter stopped the wheelchair and they waited for Julie. During this time, a young boy was being wheeled to the doors with his mom.

The mom sighed. "Darn it. I forgot my purse back in the room. Collin, stay right here and don't move." She speed walked down the hall.

Collin studied Peter and Neal. "Hi."

"Hi," Peter and Neal said in unison.

"My name is Collin. What's yours?"

"I'm Neal and that's Peter."

"I got my tonsils taken out," Colin smiled. "I got a ton of popsicles!"

"That's cool," Neal said. "What was your favorite flavor?"

"Grape," Collin thought for a second, "or cherry."

"Nice, those are my favorite too." Neal smiled.

Collin looked at Neal's arm and saw the sling. "What happened to your arm? Did you break it? My friend Luke broke his last month. I signed his cast."

"No," Peter said, "He didn't break it. He got shot in the shoulder."

Collin grimaced and Neal shot a look at Peter. "You couldn't have put it any more lighter, could you?"

Not even a minute later, Collin's mom came back to the doors.

"Mom! That guy in the wheelchair got shot!" Collin pointed at Neal.

"Oh, honey, don't point." She turned to Peter and Neal. "I'm sorry if Collin caused you any trouble. He's definitely a handful."

"I know the type," Peter said under his breath, which earned another glance from Neal.

"Okay, Collin. Dad brought the car around. Let's go."

"Bye, Neal!" Collin waved enthusiastically. "Feel better!"

"Bye, Collin." Neal gave a sincere wave of his good arm.

Peter rolled his eyes.

"You're just mad that Collin didn't say bye to you."

"No, actually I'm not." Peter looked down the hallway. "Good. Here comes Julie."

"Sorry for the wait." Julie handed Neal a small sheet of paper. "Here you go. You'll need to get this prescription filled. Instructions will be on the label."

"Thanks. It was nice meeting you Julie," Neal smiled.

"You too. Now get better," she ordered.

"I plan on it."

"And you," Julie turned to Peter, "make sure he wears that sling, will you?

"Of course," Peter nodded.

There was a beep and Julie took out her pager. "Ah, I gotta go. Bye, Neal."

"Bye, Julie," Neal said as he got out of the wheelchair. "She was great, I'll miss her. Can't say the same for the rest of this place."

Peter took the prescription from Neal's hand. "Oh, you're kidding me."

"What?"

"Unless 293-4019 is some type of new medication, I think you'll be seeing her again."

Neal snatched the paper from Peter's hand and smiled.

"Come on, let's get out of here."

* * *

><p>After picking up Neal's prescription, they drove to Neal's physical therapy office.<p>

"You want me to come with you?" Peter asked.

"Nah, I can handle this." Neal stepped out of the car. "Julie said the first session is an hour and a half and the rest are just an hour."

"Okay then. I'll be back in an hour and a half."

"Thanks." Neal closed the car door and headed into the building.

Peter had an hour and a half to kill. Since Elizabeth was off today, he could spend some time with her before picking Neal up again. So, Peter drove to the house and parked the car.

"El? I'm home," Peter called out as Satchmo came and greeted him.

"Hey, hon." Elizabeth descended from the stairs. She was wearing a dress and had heels in her hands.

"You going somewhere?" Peter asked.

"Yeah," Elizabeth put on her heels. "Yvonne called and said that the caterer hasn't shown yet. So I need to get down to the event and sort things out." She finished with her shoes and hugged Peter. "I'm sorry; I know you just wanted to relax tonight."

It was true. Peter was looking forward to a nice, quiet dinner with his wife. But, she had a job to do, which he understood. "It's alright. Really."

Elizabeth kissed him. "There's leftover meatloaf in the fridge that you can heat up."

"Good luck."

Elizabeth laughed. "Thanks. I'll need all the luck I can get." She quickly grabbed her bag and walked out to the cab waiting for her.

_So much for a relaxing night…_ Peter thought. He still had a while before he had to go get Neal, so he grabbed Satchmo's leash and took him for a short walk.

* * *

><p>Peter made it back to the physical therapy office right on time. Neal spotted the Taurus and walked to it. Opening the door, he plopped down in the seat and took a deep breath before closing it. Peter turned and studied his consultant. Neal look spent. Peter could see beads of sweat forming on Neal's head. He grew concerned.<p>

"Uh, Peter, you want to start driving?" Neal said more angrily than intended.

"Oh, right. Sorry." Peter pulled out from the side of the curb and drove down the street until he stopped at a red light. He took another look at Neal, who had his eyes closed and was resting his head on the window. "Hey, you alright?"

"Never better," Neal mumbled.

Peter didn't expect to get a real answer out of Neal so he didn't bother asking again. A few minutes later, he hit another red light, which allowed him to check on Neal.

"So, how was it?" Peter asked and was answered with silence. "Neal?" He looked closer and saw that Neal fell asleep leaning against the door. The physical therapy must have taken a lot out of him. Peter thought what to do next. If he took Neal back to June's, he would spend the rest of the night alone and in pain. And if he took Neal home with him, at least he'd have someone to watch over him. Elizabeth wasn't going to be home until much later, so the relaxing night was already out of the question. Taking the next left, he headed straight for home.

"Hey, Neal, wake up." Peter shook Neal once he parked in front of the house.

"Go away," Neal mumbled.

"Come on, wake up. Time to get out of the car." Peter carefully maneuvered the seatbelt around Neal's injured shoulder.

"What?" Neal finally opened his eyes and looked outside the window. "Peter, why am I here?" He sighed and leaned his head against the headrest.

"Because El got called out to an event last minute and Julie told me to make sure you wear your sling. I can't do that if I'm not with you."

"Right." Neal decided it'd be best not to argue and just get out of the car slowly.

Once inside the house, Neal went straight for the couch. Satchmo walked over and lied right next to the couch. Peter took to his favorite armchair across from the couch.

"Was it a good appointment?" Peter asked again.

"Yeah, it was fine."

"Who's your physical therapist? I bet it's some young girl, right? Did she give you her number yet?" Peter teased.

"It's a man, Peter."

"Oh." Peter thought that Neal would flash a smile and automatically get the prettiest female therapist in the whole office. "You take your meds yet?" He decided to change the subject.

"No, I'll do it now. Let me get some water first" Neal started to get up slowly.

"Don't get up. I got it." Peter went to the kitchen and filled up a glass of water. Walking back to the couch, he handed the glass over to Neal.

"Thanks." Neal took two pills and swallowed the water greedily.

Peter picked up the bottle of pills and read the label. "Neal! You were only supposed to take one! Didn't you bother to read the instructions?"

"Opps." Neal leaned back to the couch and closed his eyes.

"Oh, and look, it says here to take the pills with food, which you haven't done." Peter stuck the bottle in his pocket. "Let me go reheat some of El's meatloaf. Stay here." He went back to the kitchen, thinking he sounded just like Collin's mom.

It took a few minutes for Peter to fix up dinner. He realized Neal probably wouldn't want to move from the couch, so he brought the dinner out to the living room. When he got into the room, Peter didn't like what he saw.

"Neal…what are you doing?" Peter put down the food on the coffee table and went over to Neal, who was standing by the front door with his hand on the doorknob. "Neal?" He cautiously put a hand on Neal's good shoulder.

"Peter?" Neal turned his head.

"What are you doing over here?" Peter asked, as he kept his hand on Neal's shoulder.

"Uh," Neal thought for a second, "I don't remember."

"Well, that's just great," Peter mumbled under his breath. "Come sit back down and eat something." He led Neal back to the couch and handed him a fork and a plate full of meatloaf. "Eat."

"I'm not really hungry…" Neal started.

"I don't care, eat it," Peter said again.

"Who died and made you king?" Neal said angrily as he took his dinner from Peter's hand.

Peter was losing his patience. He knew he should have just taken Neal back to June's. Grabbing his plate and started eating. Looking over at Neal, he was happy to see that he was eating the meatloaf, and enjoying it. It didn't surprise him; no one could resist El's cooking. A few minutes later, they were all finished and Peter had cleaned up dinner. After cleaning up, Peter came back to the living room and saw that Neal had his eyes closed and was leaning his head on the armrest. Peter was glad that he wouldn't have to deal with Neal's drugged antics for the rest of the night. Now he could catch the rest of the game…if he could find that damn remote…

"Looking for this?"

Peter was looking under the cushion of armchair but stopped and turned around. _Oh, god, not again._

Neal was awake and was shaking the TV remote in his hand. "I found it." he smiled.

"Are you sure you didn't steal it?" Peter took the remote from Neal's hand.

Neal frowned. "Why do you think I steal everything, Peter?"

Peter sighed. "I'm sorry. I was joking."

"It's okay." Neal rested his head back against the couch.

Hoping Neal decided to take a nap or something, Peter turned on the game. It was a half an hour later before it ended and now the after game interviews were taking place. Peter looked over to the couch and was surprised to see that Neal was awake and watching the TV.

"Neal?" Peter called out. No answer. He muted the television. "Neal?"

Neal turned and looked at him.

"How are you feeling?"

"I don't know," Neal said sadly.

"Uh, can I get you anything?" Peter.

"Have you ever felt proud of yourself?" Neal asked, rather seriously.

Peter gets that feeling whenever they nail a new criminal. He felt proud when he caught Neal, that's for sure. Every morning when he wakes up beside Elizabeth, he feels proud. "Yeah. Where's this coming from?"

"Do you want to know a secret?" Neal whispered from the couch.

"I thought we said no more secrets?" Peter asked hesitantly.

"I know, just don't tell anyone okay? Especially Peter."

"Neal, I'm right—" Peter was cut off by Neal.

"I told Kate that everything was in San Diego. That's why she went there. But, I told Moz that everything was in Portland."

"Neal, please, I really think you should stop talking," Peter got up from his armchair and went to sit next to Neal on the couch. Of course he'd like to know where Neal's stash was. Just not like this. Neal would never spill the beans on where he kept it all willingly.

Sadly, Neal continued. "The catch is, all of it isn't in either place!" he said excitedly. "It's all in—"

"Neal, stop!" Peter practically begged. If Neal told him where everything was, what would he do? He would have to investigate. Neal could be thrown back in prison for all the stuff they would find.

"The middle of both places! Don't you get it? It's not in San Diego or Portland, it's in the middle, which is Sacramento!" Neal smiled. "I felt smart for coming up with the plan. Though, Moz figured out it wasn't in either place, but I never actually told him where it really was. Just promise not to tell Peter, he'd get mad." He yawned and let his head drop against the back of the couch again.

Peter sat there for a while. Neal Caffrey just told him were all his fake bonds and stolen art were located, but not knowingly. Should he call it in? Or forget it even happened?

Peter sighed and looked at his sleeping consultant. "What am I going to do?"

* * *

><p><strong>(AN): **Oh, man, I'm extremely sorry about not updating in a while. I have most of the ideas in my head but I just need some time to write them all down! So, that summer finale was terrific! January can't come any faster, can it? Oh, something interesting I found out: when I looked up tonsillectomy for Collin, it said that ice cream and other dairy products aren't good to have after getting your tonsils removed because they leave a milky film behind that makes it hard to swallow, so I went with popsicles! Never knew that before. Anyway, thanks for reading!


	8. Chapter 8

"Moz, something's up with Peter."

Night was falling over the city while Neal sat with Mozzie in his apartment sipping only the finest wine.

"How so?" Mozzie sipped from his wine glass and curiously looked at Neal.

"He's just been acting…different lately. Ever since I stayed the night at his place he's been avoiding me at the office," Neal explained.

"I don't know how I can help you, mon frère. Have you confronted him about it?"

Neal shook his head. "Elizabeth invited me over tomorrow to meet Peter's older brother and his family."

"You don't sound too excited about that." Mozzie poured both of them more wine.

"Is it that obvious?"

"I'm afraid so."

"Come on, Moz, help me out here," Neal put his wine glass on the table and retreated to the balcony. He heard Mozzie's footsteps approaching him.

"What do you want me to say, Neal? Relax and be yourself? They'll like you for you who are?"

"That's the problem. I don't know how much Peter's told them about me."

"Is that what you're worried about?" Mozzie walked up Neal.

"I guess so."

"Just go over there and meet them. It's not that big of a deal."

"Yeah, I know." Neal paused. "Thanks."

"What are friends for?" Mozzie looked at his empty wine glass. "Do you still have that Bordeaux lying around?"

* * *

><p>Peter and Elizabeth just finished up dinner and now they were having desert at the kitchen table. Elizabeth was smart enough to see that something was bothering her husband.<p>

"Peter?"

"Mmm?"

"You've barely touched your pie," Elizabeth pointed out, "And we both know how much you love pie."

"What? Oh, yeah, it's delicious." Peter took a forkful of pie and at it.

"What did Neal do now?"

"Why do you always suspect Neal did something?"

"Because you always make that face. Should I get a mirror and show you?" Elizabeth joked.

"No, no. It's not Neal," Peter shook his head.

"Okay. Then you won't have a problem with him coming over for dinner tomorrow, will you?"

"What?" Peter turned towards his wife.

"I thought we agreed that he should meet everyone?"

"Right. I forgot."

Elizabeth got up and grabbed Peter's hand. "Here, let's sit down for a minute." She led him to the couch. "Now, why don't you tell me a story?"

"A story?" Peter asked.

"Yes," Elizabeth nodded.

"Alright…once upon a time, there were two friends. One friend was injured and spent some time at the hospital. Once he got out, the other friend invited him over to stay the night since his beautiful wife was busy and the friend was exhausted."

"Keep going," Elizabeth said.

"After they got home. The injured friend took his medication, but as the other friend pointed out, he took one too many pills. After a while, the injured friend started getting talkative. A bit too talkative. At one point, he admitted the location of some illegally obtained items. And the other friend happens to be an FBI agent."

"Let me guess, the FBI agent is torn between alerting the Bureau or keeping his best friend's secret safe?"

"Best friend? I don't think Neal feels that way about—" Peter stopped, seeing Elizabeth's expression.

"Hon, you underestimate your partnership with Neal."

"El, come on, he has Mozzie. I bet right now they are scheming up a plan together to break into Fort Knox or something."

Elizabeth raised her eyebrows.

"It's a working theory."

"Enough with your theories, Agent Burke. Let's get back to your story about the conflicted friend."

"The story is over," Peter started to get up.

Elizabeth grabbed his arm and pulled him back down. "I think your forgetting a vital part to the story."

"What would that be?" Peter looked into Elizabeth's eyes.

"The _ending_," Elizabeth kissed him and got up, leaving Peter on the couch.

Elizabeth had a good point. What would the ending be? Half the stuff in Neal's stash probably was covered by the Statute of Limitations… But what about his duty as an agent? Peter didn't know how much longer he could keep it up. Neal needed to know. Tomorrow, Peter decided, he'd tell Neal what happened.

* * *

><p>"I got it," Peter called out to Elizabeth as he came down the stairs to open the door.<p>

"Hey," Neal greeted.

"Hey. Come on in." Peter gestured inside the house.

Once inside, Neal held out a wine bottle. "I brought a little something for the adults." He looked around the empty living room. "I hope I'm not too early to the party."

"Oh, no. They just got caught up in some traffic. Should be here in about half an hour." Peter took the wine bottle from Neal and went to put it on some ice. Walking back into the room, Neal was sitting on the couch patting Satchmo. He walked over and sat down next to Neal.

"So…"

"So…" Neal mimicked. "I've been thinking…"

"We need to talk," they both said at the same time.

After a laugh, Peter spoke. "I think I should go first."

"Be my guest."

"Remember the day I invited you over after your first physical therapy?"

Neal nodded.

"After I brought you home, you took two pills of your meds, instead of one."

"Yeah, remind me never to do that again. Huge headache," Neal recalled.

"Well, during that time…you got kinda confused. And I know if you knew what was going on, you wouldn't have said it."

"Said what?" Neal asked cautiously. He had a bad feeling about where this was going.

"You told me that all the money, bonds, art, all of it was in Sacramento. In between San Diego, where you told Kate, and Portland, where you told Mozzie," Peter finished with a sigh. He studied Neal's face, which was hard to read.

"Should I be worried about the Calvary coming to arrest me in the middle of the night?"

"I don't think so," Peter saw Neal clearly surprised by that. "I have my loyalties to the Bureau. But I also have my loyalties to my _partner_, which I think are a bit more special," he smiled.

Neal smiled too. "Thanks, Peter. That really means a lot."

"Don't expect it to happen again."

"I won't. I promise to read labels from now on, scouts honor."

Peter rolled his eyes. "Like you were a boy scout."

"Give me a day or two and I can have the proper documents to prove it," Neal joked. Remembering something, he pulled out his phone.

Peter eyed the phone. "Calling Mozzie?"

"Yeah." Neal held up the phone to his ear.

"Are you telling him to move everything out of Sacramento?" Peter asked suspiciously.

"What? No. I forgot to feed Bugsy tonight. June's out of town," Neal explained.

"Oh." Peter leaned back into the couch, letting Neal make his phone call.

"Moz? Hey, would you mind running over to take care of Bugsy? I'm at Peter's. Go ahead, it's right behind the Bordeaux. Okay, thanks. Bye." Neal hung up.

They sat for a while before Peter spoke again. "Just one more question," he prodded. "Why'd you make me your Power of Attorney?"

Neal seemed caught off guard. "Oh, well, I just figured, since we work together and—"

Peter stopped him. He knew Neal was just going to beat around the bush. "Neal, I'm glad you trust me enough to do that."

They sat in silence, listening to Satchmo's tail waking the floor, before Peter finally asked, "So you're not moving the stuff?"

"Nope. I think all of it is safe where it is right now."

They both looked at each other and knew that they reached an understanding.

Further conversation was interrupted by the ring of the doorbell.

"They're here!" Elizabeth came down the stairs to open the door.

Just like Neal imagined, all the hugs and "_I missed you"s_ began. He politely stood aside while Peter's family reunited. Neal saw Peter's older brother, Robert and his wife Whitney. Robert looked nothing like Peter; he had dark, curly hair, and was much taller. But they both shared the same warm and friendly brown eyes.

"And this is Neal," Peter walked everyone over to Neal.

"So here's the guy I've heard so much about," Robert smiled. "Nice to finally meet you, Neal."

He held out a hand and Neal shook it. He was surprised when Robert pulled him in for a hug. When they pulled apart, Neal was introduced to Whitney, who also gave him a hug.

"We're so glad you could come and meet us, Neal." she said happily. Neal could smell a light lavender perfume on her. They pulled apart and Whitney brought up Jasmine and Jessica. They both had dirty blonde hair just like their mother's. Jasmine seemed happy to be here, while Jessica was busy texting on her cell phone.

"This is Jasmine, she's 11. And this is Jessica, she's 14. Say hi to Neal, you two."

"Hi, Neal." Jasmine gave a wave.

Jessica looked up from her phone. Once she saw Neal, she started to blush. "Hi."

"Nice to meet you both," Neal smiled.

"All right everyone, dinner should be ready in about five," Elizabeth announced, "so why don't you all go sit down at the table?"

"Would you like some help, Elizabeth?" Whitney offered.

"I'd love some." Elizabeth and Whitney walked off to the kitchen while everyone else went towards the table.

Neal sat next to one of the corners of the table and saw Jasmine pull out the chair a bit so she could sit next to him. But Jessica moved around her and sat in it instead.

"Hey! I was going to sit there," Jasmine whined.

"No, I'm sitting here. Go sit next to Uncle Peter."

"No, I want to sit there!"

"Girls, stop fighting." Robert was in the middle of talking to Peter. "Jaz, come sit next to your uncle."

"Fine," Jasmine gave up and walked to the chair next to Peter.

Neal spotted a basket of breadsticks and reached over to get one when Jessica turned toward him. "So, Neal," she started, "I heard you're Uncle Peter's consultant at the FBI. What's it like? Do you have fun?"

"Um, yeah. It's good." Neal took a bit of the bread. He heard Jessica's phone on the table vibrate. "Are you going to get that?"

"No, that's not important right now." Jessica picked up the phone and turned it off and looked back at him. "So, do you go undercover a lot? Is it dangerous?"

Neal was about to answer but Elizabeth and Whitney came out with the food and wine he brought over.

"Dinner is served!" Elizabeth placed the bowls of spaghetti on the table. "Help yourselves."

And so they did. Everyone ended up taking seconds as soon as they were done clearing their plates. Afterword, Elizabeth brought out some chocolate cake for desert. Throughout the night, Jessica kept asking him questions about everything from his job at the FBI, to his favorite place to go in the city.

"So, Neal," Robert interrupted Jessica mid-question from across the table, "I don't know if Peter mentioned it, but I'm an art teacher at our high school."

Neal, relieved to have a break from Jessica, smiled. "Yeah, he said something about it. Any of the kids have potential?"

Robert nodded. "I think so. Especially the kids in the higher level art classes."

"That's great."

"It's always good to see students work hard," Robert smiled, "Anyway, I was wondering if you'd be interested in coming upstate sometime and maybe be a guest instructor for a couple of classes?"

Neal couldn't believe it. "I…that sounds great. I'd love to. That's if it's okay with Peter."

Everyone turned to Peter. "Ah, well, I do have some vacation days coming up. I'll mention it to Hughes, see what we can do."

"Thanks, Peter," Neal smiled genuinely. Teaching an art class? He liked the sound of that. Sure, he's taught before with his forged Ph. D, but this would be something entirely different.

"Jessica, I'm surprised. You haven't looked at your phone once since we've gotten here," Whitney said.

"That's cause she likes Neal!" Jasmine blurted out.

Jessica blushed. "I do not!"

"Girls, please, just get along." Robert looked at his watch. "Whit, I think it's a good time to start heading back to the hotel."

"Yeah, I think so too. Come on girls, say goodbye to Uncle Peter and Aunt Elizabeth."

Everyone got up and said their goodbyes while Neal stood patiently. Whitney came over to him with a hug and a goodbye to go with it.

"Neal," Robert walked over to him and pulled him in for another hug. "It was great meeting you. I look forward to you coming upstate. I'm sure Peter can work something out with the Bureau."

Neal figured Peter told Robert about his anklet. But for some reason, it didn't matter to him. They all treated him like he was actually part of the family.

"I'm sure he can," Neal smiled.

"And thanks for looking out for him. I'm sure you know that Peter can be a little thickheaded sometimes, but I'm glad he's got you to watch his back." Robert patted him on his shoulder.

"Bye, Neal!" Jasmine came over and held out a hand for him to shake.

"Bye, Jasmine. It was nice meeting you," Neal said. He looked up and saw Jessica standing by the door, about to walk out. He made his way over to her. "Not thinking about leaving yet, are you?"

Jessica avoided eye contact. "No."

"It was great talking to you, Jessica," Neal gave her a smile.

Jessica looked up at him and smiled too. "You too."

Everyone made their way to the door and after Whitney took the girls back to the car, Robert stayed behind to give his final goodbyes to his brother.

"You know, Dad's been talking about a family reunion closer to Christmas."

Peter rolled his eyes. "He's been trying to plan one for years."

Robert laughed. "Yeah, but this year it actually might happen. So keep your calendars open. That goes for you too, Neal."

"I wouldn't want to intrude. It's a family thing," Neal said awkwardly.

"Neal, don't be silly," Elizabeth walked over, "We'd love for you to come."

"Yeah, it'd be great. We'd make you wear an ugly Christmas sweater. I'm sure you'd pull off the holiday look nicely," Peter joked.

"Well, I better get going," Robert said. "We're picnicking in Central Park tomorrow if you guys want to join."

"I wish we could," Peter sighed, "But duty calls."

"If I can get out of work, I'd love to," Elizabeth smiled.

"Sounds good. Thanks for dinner, it was delicious." Robert walked onto the front steps. "And Neal, I'm serious about the art class. Let me know as soon as you can, will you?"

"Of course," Neal nodded.

They all waved as they saw the Burke family car drive off down the street. Once they were all inside the house, Neal turned to Peter.

"You wouldn't have anything to do with your brother offering me to teach his class, would you?" Neal raised his eyebrows.

"I may have mentioned your background. I thought I'd be nice," Peter admitted. "As long as you don't go around teaching the kids what the proper oven temperature to age a painting is, I think you'll be alright."

Neal sighed. "I guess I'll have to cross aging paintings off the agenda," he said disappointedly.

"Ha ha, very funny."

Neal smiled. "Thanks for inviting me over, both of you."

"Oh, Neal, you spend so much time over here already that you're practically family," Elizabeth gave him a half hug.

"Well, I should probably get going. Bugsy might need to be let out again," Neal said as he opened the door.

"Let me drive you." Peter grabbed the keys from the key hook.

The car ride was uneventful. Much to Peter's surprise, Neal didn't once mess with the touch screen in the Taurus. Looking to the passenger seat, he saw Neal leaning up against the car door, sleeping. He was glad they got to talk earlier and even happier that Neal seemed like he truly enjoyed himself during the dinner.

It wasn't before long that Peter pulled up to the curb in front of June's and parked the car. Neal was still asleep, but he had to wake him up. Peter leaned over and shook Neal's arm gently.

"Neal, we're at June's. Wake up."

Neal slowly lifted his head and looked outside. "Didn't think I was that tired." He winced as he moved his injured shoulder.

Peter had a moment of realization. "Neal, you didn't wear your sling." With all the excitement of the night, he didn't even notice.

"Come on, Peter, I don't need to wear it when I'm sitting around eating dinner."

Peter was too tired to argue. "Fine. But I want to see you in that sling tomorrow."

"Yeah, I know." Neal faced Peter, "Thanks for dinner and for driving me home."

"You're welcome," Peter nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow at the office."

"Goodnight, Peter." Neal stepped out of the car and walked into June's.

Peter waited until Neal made it all the way inside before pulling away from the curb and heading back home to Elizabeth.

* * *

><p><strong>(AN):** Again, sorry for the late update! There's one more chapter that I'll get to work on ASAP. Thanks so much for reading! :)


	9. Chapter 9

The next day, it was back to work as usual for team Caffrey and Burke. Now that they both had their talk the night before, they were actually looking forward to getting back to business. Which was good since Tucker got a lead on the Haustenberg case.

"We have chatter from a few of our CIs that Shelby is meeting a fence about the Haustenberg. Chances are she'll have the painting with her. If not, then we'll bring her in and question her." Tucker addressed the conference room full of agents, and Neal. "The location is an abandoned warehouse in the Meatpacking District. I want this place covered from every exit possible. She can't get away this time. The meet is supposed to be taking place at 3pm this afternoon. Let's get a few teams set up down there immediately."

All the agents in the room got up to get prepared for the take down, while Peter, Neal, and Tucker stayed behind. Tucker walked up to them.

"I was wondering if you two would want to stick with me during the take down. We can take one of the SUVs since she knows about the surveillance van."

"Good plan." Peter looked at his watch, "We'll meet you in the parking deck in half an hour."

"Perfect," Tucker smiled. "See you both then."

They watched Tucker walk down to the bullpen.

"He seems hopeful," Neal pointed out.

"Yeah, well this case might make his career."

Neal looked at Peter. "What was your first major case? The one that made your career."

Peter looked around. "Oh, you know…it's been a while. I'm not sure I remember."

Neal's grin was growing bigger by the second. "It was my case, wasn't it?"

Peter shook his head enthusiastically. "No, no. I had plenty of other cases closed that got the higher up's attention."

"Sure you did." Neal walked out of the room, not buying it.

* * *

><p>It was almost 3 o'clock and Peter and Neal could be found in an FBI car with Tucker across from the warehouse that Shelby was planning to be at. Neal had his head leaning against the window, not really looking outside. But something caught his eye.<p>

"Hey," Neal sat up and pointed, "I think she just went through a side door."

"You sure?" Peter asked as he looked towards the side of the building.

"Positive."

"Looks like it's go time." Tucker picked up his walkie-talkie and held down the button. "Suspect was spotted entering the warehouse through a side exit. All teams move in." He waited for a confirmation, but it never came. "Team 2 do you copy? Team 3?" No one answered "Dammit! She must be jamming the signal. Burke, let's move in."

Tucker and Peter got out of the car and so did Neal.

Peter stopped him. "Neal, stay in the car."

"Come on, let me come. I'll stay right behind you."

Peter thought for a second. "Fine," he said reluctantly, "Just stay behind us and don't do anything stupid."

Neal smiled; relieved he didn't have to stick this one out in the car.

The three of them jogged across the warehouse and towards the side entrance that Neal saw Shelby go through. Tucker and Peter had their guns drawn as they reached the door and Neal stayed right behind Peter as he said he would. Peter nodded toward Tucker and mouthed _"On three."_ Tucker nodded back. _One…Two…Three!_

Tucker kicked the door and it flew open. He and Peter moved swiftly inside, with Neal behind them, looking all around the warehouse before spotting Shelby standing alone at a table.

"Hands where we can see them!" Peter yelled as he slowly approached her.

"Put the gun on the ground, Burke." _No...that couldn't be..._

"Tucker?" Peter turned and saw that Tucker had walked past him and over to Shelby's side. He still had his gun drawn, but now it was aimed toward Peter and Neal.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Peter held his gun steady.

"Change of plans," Tucker said, "I made a little deal with Shelby here. I'll get 50% of the profit from the Haustenberg if I help her get out of New York."

"Tucker, don't do this to yourself. You're a good agent," Peter said calmly.

Tucker laughed. "Come on, Burke. I'd never be as good of an agent as you. Shelby helped me realize I'd make thousands more than you'll ever see in your government paychecks." He turned to Shelby. "You got the painting?"

Shelby held up a tube. "Got it right here. Let's get outta here."

"Hold on, he won't let us go unless we're being led out in cuffs." Tucker looked at Peter. "Put the gun on the ground now, or I'll shoot!"

Peter knew he could easily shoot Tucker in the shoulder and force him to drop the gun. But he didn't want to resort to that just yet.

"I don't think so, Tucker. There are at least a dozen FBI agents surrounding this warehouse. There's no way you're getting out."

"Now that would be a problem, but considering I'm the lead agent for the case, I got to pick exactly where the teams were positioned. I made sure there was a safe way out." Tucker paused. "So, I'll tell you one more time, drop the gun."

Peter couldn't let Tucker and Shelby get away with the painting. He decided to take the shot, but just a moment too late. He saw Tucker put his finger on the trigger...

"Neal, get down!"

Neal felt his injured shoulder hit the ground hard as Peter pushed him down behind a couple of old crates. Sitting up slowly, he saw Peter sitting next to him.

"Peter," Neal started looking for bullet holes on the agent but to his relief, there weren't any.

"I'm okay," Peter reassured him. He peaked around the crate to see where Tucker and Shelby were.

Tucker was walking backwards, still with his gun out, and Shelby was right behind him.

"I think we're clear," Tucker said, "Let's go."

"Not so fast." Diana rushed in with Jones and about five other agents, all with their guns drawn.

"Damn!" Tucker shouted as he threw his gun on the ground and put his hands up.

"I knew I shouldn't have made a deal with you!" Shelby said angrily as Jones cuffed her.

Diana holstered her gun and walked over to Peter and Neal. "You two alright?"

"Yeah, we're good." Peter patted Neal's back as they walked out of the warehouse.

* * *

><p>For their celebratory dinner, they ended up ordering Chinese, which Elizabeth picked up on the way home from work. She also brought home some fresh cookies from the bakery.<p>

After they ate, Neal went upstairs to the bathroom while Peter and Elizabeth finished cleaning up and got out the cookies. Peter, however, opened one of the lower cabinets and pulled out a bag.

"Hon, you know Satch doesn't like those fancy dog cookies," Elizabeth said as she got out the milk and three glasses.

"They aren't for Satch. They're for Neal." Peter ignored Elizabeth's confused look. "This is payback for him letting me eat those dog food cookies that day." He put two of the dog cookies onto Neal's desert plate and put two regular cookies onto his and Elizabeth's plate. Both cookies looked fairly the same so he hoped Neal wouldn't notice. Peter heard Neal coming down the stairs and stuck the bag of dog cookies back into the cabinet.

"Alright, good luck with your plan, sweetie." Elizabeth grabbed a plate of regular cookies and a glass of milk. She walked out of the kitchen and to the table.

Peter took the plate with dog cookies in his left hand and the regular cookies in the right. Walking out, he saw Neal already sitting at the table with Elizabeth.

"Here you go." Peter gave the plate in his left hand to Neal and put the other in front of his chair. "Let me go get the milk." He went back into the kitchen for a second and came back out.

"Thanks." Neal took the milk from Peter and put it down next to him. He picked up a cookie from his plate and took a bit out of it.

Peter tried to keep a straight face, but he was finding it hard. He held up his cookie, about to take a bite, when Neal smiled.

"This is delicious. Which bakery did you go to?" Neal asked Elizabeth.

"The Greatest Cake," she smiled, "For some reason they gave me a discount."

"Then they're doing their job," Neal winked. "I hear their cheesecake is to die for. I'll have to pick some up the next time we have dinner." He took another bite out of the cookie.

Peter's smile started fading. Neal was actually enjoying the dog food cookie? That was just wrong! Peter was too distracted watching Neal eat the last of his cookie when he moved his own hand a bit closer to his mouth and…

"Oh, God," Peter spat out the cookie into his napkin, "that's disgusting!" He looked up at Neal who was smirking proudly, while Elizabeth was giggling.

"Something wrong with your cookie, Peter?" Neal asked, with fake concern.

"You switched the cookies!" Peter realized.

"Never con a con man." Neal raised his milk glass to Peter.

Peter knew he should be mad, but with Elizabeth's laughing getting louder, he was finding it hard. He raised his glass to Neal.

"Well played," Peter smiled as he clinked milk glasses with his partner.

* * *

><p><strong>(AN):** I can't believe it's over! I had so much fun writing this and reading all the nice reviews. I didn't really intend for Tucker to be dirty but a lot have people said that he seemed shady in earlier chapters so I decided to put that into the story! If I have time, I've been thinking about a small epilogue that would deal with Neal going to visit Robert (with Peter) and teaching the art class. Let me know if you'd be interested! Thank you all so much for all the favorites/alerts/and reviews! :)


	10. Epilogue

"Are we there yet?"

"No. And if you ask that again, I'll pull over and throw you in the trunk."

Peter and Neal had been in the car for almost two hours, and they still had an hour to go. Peter's brother, Robert, had been bugging Peter to get Neal up to Albany and do a few art classes for him. Peter had brought the idea to Hughes, who surprisingly approved, saying that _"It'd be a good experience for Caffrey."_ Or, it could have been that OPR was coming by to do their annual check of the office and Peter just had some extra vacation days. Once they hit Albany, they'd stay in a hotel for the night and then tomorrow, they'd get over to the high school and meet up with Robert. If all goes well, they could end up staying for a few more days.

Neal could hardly contain his excitement. When Robert had thrown the idea at him during that dinner a few weeks ago, he didn't really think it'd ever happen. But now that they were halfway there, he was getting antsy.

"Are we—"

"Don't!" Peter warned.

"Relax, Peter, I was just going to ask if we are going to stop soon for dinner. I'm starving."

"Once we get closer to the hotel we can stop and eat something."

It was another hour before they hit Albany. And it took another to find somewhere to eat, have dinner, and finally get to the hotel to check in.

"There's a reservation under Burke," Peter told the man behind the desk in the hotel lobby.

"Ah, yes. Here you are Mr. Burke," the man handed Peter two room keys. "Enjoy your stay."

Neal and Peter headed into the elevator and pushed the button for the third floor.

"I call the bed closest to the window," Neal said.

"What? Why?" Peter wanted the bed closest to the window.

"It's a substitute for June's balcony," Neal shrugged, "Besides; I'd rather have the minuscule window as opposed to the view of the tacky wallpaper."

Peter, deciding not to argue, didn't touch on the subject again.

When they arrived outside their room, Peter inserted the key card and stepped in.

"Oh, no. You've got to be kidding me." Peter let his suitcase drop to the floor.

"Peter, you said you got a room with two queen size beds," Neal put down his suitcase. "I only see one. And that doesn't even look like a queen, more like a full."

Inside the room, there was only _one_ bed, a TV on a stand, a standard desk, and a table and arm chair tucked in the corner.

"Well, I call the bed," Neal plopped down on the bed.

"No, you don't. I'm going back down and getting the room I reserved last week!" Peter angrily stepped out of the room and closed the door.

Neal didn't bother opening up his suitcase since they were changing rooms. Instead he picked up the remote lying on the side table and started flipping through channels. He was disappointed to find that there were no HD channels. But, it would probably bother Peter more since he would be using the TV to watch his sports.

It wasn't even 10 minutes later when Peter returned, more frustrated than before.

"I'm guessing you didn't get another room?" Neal turned off the TV.

"No!" Peter threw his hands in the air and started pacing. "Apparently they booked the wrong room for us! And since there's a huge business conference going on, there aren't any available rooms."

"This is a problem."

"You think?" Peter stopped pacing and sat down in the arm chair.

"How about we just switch off?" Neal offered. "We'll flip a coin to see who gets the bed first. Tomorrow we'll switch." Neal searched his pockets for a spare quarter.

Peter grabbed it from Neal. "Not so fast. I'll flip it."

"You're just oozing trust," Neal mumbled as Peter tossed the coin. "Heads!" he called out.

Peter caught the quarter in his hand and flipped it on his other. "Damn." George Washington was facing up at him.

"It's settled then. I get the bed, you get the chair," Neal smiled.

"Wipe that smirk off your face and get ready for bed." Peter unzipped his suitcase to retrieve his pajamas.

* * *

><p>"Neal, hurry up! You're taking longer than El!" Peter banged on the bathroom door. They both got a late start to the morning since they forgot to set an alarm. The hotel stopped serving breakfast in half an hour and then they had to head over to the high school in time for Robert's 2nd period art class.<p>

Neal finally opened the door, with steam emitting from his extended shower, wearing one of his signature suits.

"Neal, it's a high school art class, not the Oscars," Peter watched as Neal started putting on a tie.

"First impressions are everything." Neal adjusted his tie in the mirror and slipped on a tie bar.

Peter rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I'll be out in 5." He walked into the bathroom and closed the door.

A few minutes later, Peter came out of the bathroom, dressed in simple jeans and a shirt. They made it downstairs just in time to get some coffee and a bagel before the breakfast ended. Soon they left the hotel and started driving to the local high school.

"Nervous?" Peter asked as he parked the car in front of the school.

"Nah, there's no reason to be," Neal said confidently.

"Alright, Robert said we have to go to the front office and get visitor's badges. Then we'll head on over to his classroom."

After they got their visitor's badges, Peter and Neal walked down the hall to Robert's classroom. Peter knocked on the door before opening it.

Robert looked up from his desk. "Hey!" he stood up and walked over to them. "Glad you made it." Robert hugged Peter, then Neal.

"Bell rings in a few minutes. You ready?" Robert asked Neal as they walked to his desk.

"Yeah, I think I'm good," Neal looked around the large classroom, spotting all the various brushes and paints.

"Great!" Robert smiled. "Here's the class syllabus," he pointed to a sheet of paper on the desk, "but really, go for whatever you feel like doing."

"Sounds good to me." Neal picked up the paper and glanced over it.

"Now, let me warn you, this next class is Art 1, which means that half the kids in here just signed up for the class to get an easy A. A couple of them are real trouble makers, so just warn them with detention and they should shut up."

Neal nodded. "Got it."

Just then, the bell rang and students could be heard moving around in the hallway. A few kids started trickling into the room.

"I'll introduce the class to you and then I'll take Peter over to the teacher's lounge down the hall. Feel free to come and get me for anything."

"Okay." Neal watched as the empty chairs filled up with students just as the bell rang. The once quite classroom was now buzzing with many small conversations going on across the room.

"Good morning, class!" Robert addressed the room. "Today we have a special guest. This is Neal Caffrey, a friend of my brother's. He'll be teaching your class today."

"What the hell is he wearing?" a boy shouted from the back of the classroom. "Last time I checked, it wasn't the 60's."

The class gave a few muffled laughs.

"Billy," Robert said steadily, "I'm pretty sure I still have your mother's email address lying around here somewhere. You wouldn't want me to mention that you've failed to turn in your last two portfolios now, would you?"

The class laughed again and the boy named Billy shut up.

"I'll be down the hall in the teacher's lounge, so no funny business. You need to treat Neal like you would treat me, understand?"

"Yes, Mr. Burke," the class said together.

"Have at it, Neal," Robert patted Neal's shoulder. "We'll be back a few minutes before class ends."

"Thanks." Neal watched as Robert walked out with Peter, who mouthed _good luck_ before leaving. He turned toward the class. "So, let's get started."

Within a few minutes, Neal had all the students standing next to easels with their paints and a fresh canvas. He told them to go ahead and paint whatever was on their mind. Since it was just Art 1, Neal thought it'd be a fun and simple task. He started walking around the room, observing the works in progress. About half the class started painting flowers, other's stood around not knowing where to start, and the rest were goofing off in the back of the room.

"This is stupid!" Neal heard a girl say as he passed by, "What are we even supposed to paint? This isn't how Mr. Burke teaches."

"How did he afford that suit? He's probably loaded," he heard another.

"Mr. Caffrey?" Neal turned around and saw a group of upperclassman girls waving him over. He smiled; relieved that at least some students came to learn.

"Am I doing this right?" one of the girls asked. The other's around her started giggling.

Neal looked at her painting. He assumed it was some sort of waterfall, but he couldn't be sure…

"It's a great start, keep going," Neal said, watching the girl as she started painting again. "Hold on, try holding the brush this way." he adjusted her hand that was holding the brush, "And you don't have to push down so hard, just keep it steady, like this." Neal held her hand and did a few light strokes as an example.

The girl started giggling as Neal held her hand, so did her friends. Neal kicked himself mentally; these girls could care less about how to properly hold a brush. What was wrong with this generation?

"Oh, Mr. Caffrey!" a different girl next to him called out. "Can you tell me if I'm holding _my_ brush the wrong way? I think I need some help."

"Please, call me Neal." Neal smiled as he moved over to the neighboring easels.

The group of girls burst into giggles. Neal's mind flashed back to dinner with Peter's family, specifically Robert's daughter, Jessica, who couldn't stop talking to him.

"Here, why don't you show them how to hold the brush?" Neal faced the blonde who he just helped. "I'll check back over here in a little while."

Neal made his way over to the other side of the classroom, where a few boys were throwing paintbrushes at each other.

"Hey, guys, cut it out," Neal caught one of the brushes that was no doubt aimed at his head.

"Why should we listen to you? You aren't our teacher," said the boy earlier, Billy.

"No, I'm not. But—"

Billy cut him off. "Then we shouldn't have to listen to what you say."

The group of guys around him all shouted, "Yeah!"

"So why don't you walk on over to the teacher's desk, sit your ass down, and don't tell us what to do. Got it?" Billy looked him straight in the eye.

Neal kept his ground. There was no way some little brat was going to tell him what to do. "No. How about you listen to me? You and your little buddies over here are going to pick up all of the paintbrushes on the ground. Then you'll start on your paintings. If you don't, I'll be sure to tell Mr. Burke to give you all detention." He could feel the whole class's eyes set on him.

All the guys started to _Oooh_.

Neal saw Billy pick up a large paintbrush, soaked in yellow paint. He just had enough time to duck as Billy threw the loaded paintbrush right over his head.

"Damn, I missed." Billy laughed, "Or maybe not." He pointed to an easel behind Neal.

Neal slowly turned around and saw the yellow paintbrush intended for him, sliding down another boy's canvas. He stepped closer and saw that underneath the wet, yellow paint was the start of a very detailed painting of a city.

"I'm so sorry," Neal said softly to the boy.

The boy turned around, clearly in anger, and stopped over to Billy.

"Got a problem, Daniel?" Billy laughed.

"Yeah, you!" Daniel spat out as he grabbed a paintbrush with red paint and threw it at Billy.

The class went crazy.

Brushes of every kind started flying across the classroom. The girls ducked under the tables, trying not to get paint on them. Neal stood against the wall and watched as paint flew across the room.

"What is going on here?" a loud voice boomed from the front of the room.

The class fell silent as the last airborne brush hit the floor.

Neal stepped away from the wall and saw Robert and Peter walking into the classroom with coffee in their hands.

The bell rang for the end of class but no one dared to move.

"Peter, I think you and Neal should go get some lunch."

"Good idea." Peter spotted Neal, "Come on."

Neal silently walked across the room and over to Peter. They didn't talk until they got into the car.

"Peter," Neal started.

"Let's get something to eat," Peter cut him off as he started the car and pulled away from the school.

They stopped at a little sandwich shop down the road. After getting their sandwiches and drinks, they sat down at a picnic table next to the building to eat.

"Maybe this trip wasn't such a good idea," Neal said after a few minutes.

"What makes you say that?" Peter asked with a smile. But one look at Neal's face told him that Neal was being serious. Putting down his sandwich he looked back up at Neal. "Look, I'm sorry things didn't turn out great, but it was your first try. We can't go home just yet."

"Peter, I really don't think I can do that again," Neal said sadly.

Peter knew that arguing with Neal would be pointless, so he decided to reason with him. "Okay, I understand. Robert has another class around 1:30. I think you should give it another shot. If you still wanna leave after, we can drive home tomorrow. Deal?"

Neal sighed. "Deal."

"Now that that's settled, let's get back over to the school before that class starts."

* * *

><p>"Don't worry, this class is Art 3. They're a lot more mature." Robert told Neal.<p>

Once Peter and Neal came back from lunch, they were surprised to see that the whole classroom was as clean as it was before the paint fight. Neither bothered asking about what happened after they left.

"Okay," Neal didn't bother getting his hopes up.

The bell rang and students started entering the classroom; much more quietly than the previous class.

"Good afternoon!" Robert said to the class once the bell rang. "Class, I'd like to introduce my friend, Neal Caffrey. He'll be your guest instructor today. I'll be down the hall catching up with my brother here so behave yourselves. I expect nothing less from you all." He turned to Neal, "We'll be back before class ends."

"You'll do great," Peter whispered in Neal's ear before leaving with Robert.

Neal faced the class, which was smaller than the one before. One girl raised her hand.

"Um, yes?" Neal asked.

"Is it true that Billy Walker started a paint fight in 2nd period?"

"Yeah," Neal said. "Things got a little out of hand."

"Don't worry about it," a boy called out, "Billy's a total jerk. I heard he got a week's detention."

"I heard he ruined Daniel Reeves' painting. He's a freshman but he's apparently really good," another girl said.

"Okay," Neal didn't want to waste the whole class gossiping about the paint fight. "I thought we'd try something a bit different. Everyone take out a sheet of paper and write down your favorite utensil to create art. Could be markers, pencils, crayons, chalk, whatever you like the most."

_So far, so good._ Neal thought as he grabbed an empty basket.

"Now, everyone pass this basket around and put your paper into it."

The class each put a small piece of paper into the basket and passed it back up to Neal.

"Good. This time pass the basket around and pick out one paper each with the utensil written on it." Neal watched as the basket was passed around again. "What you're going to today is use the utensil that one of your classmates wrote on the sheet of paper to create a picture. The point of this is to try something new, something that maybe you didn't like before, and have a better understanding of how to use it."

Everyone started asking what the other got as soon as the basket came around to them.

"Once you have your utensil, go get started. I'll be walking around to see how everyone's doing."

The class got up and started grabbing what they needed to do the assignment.

Neal started walking around watching all the students working with all the different materials. He saw a few take out some paintbrushes and paints, but knew that they weren't going to start throwing them. One girl had a set of chalks set out in front of her.

"Can't think of anything to draw?" Neal pulled up a chair next to her.

"Nope," she sighed. "That's always my problem. I can never think of something unique. And chalk isn't exactly my forte."

"Maybe I can help," Neal offered. "Why don't you try a black sheet of paper instead of white? Then you could just use white chalk and make the image pop against the background."

The girl nodded. "That could work. Maybe I could draw a panda?"

"That's a great idea!" Neal smiled.

The girl was delighted that Neal liked her idea. "Thanks, Mr. Caffrey."

"Call me Neal. And no problem…?"

"Alice." she smiled. "I should go switch this sheet for a black one. Thanks again!"

Neal felt a newfound confidence flow through him as he continued to walk around and assist other kids with their works in progress. By the end of class, he got to talk one-on-one with the whole class and get to know all their names. They were all happy to talk to him too. He learned that a few of them even wanted to pursue a career in art.

There was still a few minutes left of class, so everyone was clearing their workspace. No one finished their assignment yet but by tomorrow, they'd all be complete.

Neal was walking back to the front of the room when he passed Alice again.

"Wow," Neal stood next to her, "I have to say, that's the best looking panda I've ever seen."

Alice blushed. "Thanks, Neal. It should be finished by tomorrow. I just need to add a bit more."

"Hey, Neal, are you going to be back tomorrow?" a boy named David asked.

"Oh, well, I don't know," Neal said. He was so set on getting back home, but now he didn't want to leave.

"You _have_ to come tomorrow and see our work once they're finished," Alice said next to him.

"I'll have to ask Mr. Burke if he'd let me."

"Ask me what?"

Everyone looked up at the front of the classroom where Robert and Peter stood.

"Can you let Neal come back tomorrow?" Alice asked.

The class gave a unanimous _Yeah!_

"Only if you want to, Neal.," Robert said.

"I'd love to," Neal smiled.

The bell rang and all the students gathered their stuff. Everyone passed Neal on the way out and said their goodbyes.

"Everything go okay?" Robert asked once the last of the kids left.

"Yeah, everyone was great."

"So, I'll see you two tomorrow then?"

Peter looked at Neal, letting him answer.

"Yes, I think so," Neal nodded.

"Awesome." Robert looked at his watch, "Well, I gotta run to a meeting now. Bye!"

Peter and Neal parted ways with Robert and outside to the car.

"What made you change your mind?" Peter asked once they were in the car.

"I don't know," Neal said, trying to figure it out for himself. "I guess the whole class did."

"I'm glad you changed your mind."

Neal looked at Peter. "Really? Why?"

"I thought that this would be nice for you." Peter said honestly, "It would show you that you can use your talents for something more rewarding."

The car went silent for a while.

"Thanks for bringing me up here, Peter. I mean it."

Peter was surprised at Neal's sincerity. "No problem."

* * *

><p>The next day, Peter and Neal were back at the school. Robert told Neal that he didn't have to teach the Art 1 class again, but Neal persisted; he wanted to show he was capable of handling the class.<p>

"—and if I see any paint out during this class _or_ anything flying, I assure you harsher punishments will be given out," Robert told the class. "Am I clear?"

"Yes, Mr. Burke," the class mumbled.

"Have a good class." Robert walked out with Peter and closed the door.

Neal faced the class. "Today—" he stopped once a girl's hand shot up. "Yes?"

"I did a little research last night."

"Well, that's always good," Neal smiled.

"I Google'd Neal Caffrey. Is it true you're a world-class art thief and forger?"

Neal's smile faltered for a second as the class started talking amongst themselves.

"Who gives a shit?" Billy shouted.

"You better watch yourself, Billy," the same girl said. "I read that he was in _prison_. For almost four years. But he escaped and got thrown back in."

Billy stopped laughing at the sound of prison.

"And now," the girl continued, "he's made a deal with the FBI. He's a consultant for them. Mr. Burke's brother is the FBI agent who caught him!

The class started talking even louder now and Neal just stood in the front of the room. He really needed to talk to Peter about this. If a simple high school girl could look up his deal with the FBI, so could bad guys looking to get revenge on a snitch.

"Yes," Neal said loudly and the class stopped talking. "That's all true. I broke out of prison, got caught again, made a deal with the FBI to work as a consultant, and now I work with the guy who caught me, he paused, "Any questions?" the class remained silent, "Great, let's get started." There was no reason to tell them about the anklet, no, he'd just leave that bit out. "Mr. Burke told me you guys have been working on your latest portfolios. So, that's what you'll be doing today. Go ahead and start working."

The class went to the back of the room and got their portfolios out and began working. No one talked above a whisper. When Neal walked by, those whispering got silent and only started talking again when he passed them.

Neal moved to the other side of the room by the boy whose name was Daniel. He was hard at work on a sketch.

"Hey," Neal pulled up a chair, "I'm sorry about what happened to your painting yesterday."

Daniel looked up from his sketch. "It's okay. It wasn't your fault."

"For what it's worth, I really liked it. You have some real potential," Neal smiled.

"Really?" Daniel's eyes lit up.

"Really."

Daniel put down his pencil. "What was it like being a forger?"

That wasn't exactly the type of question Neal wanted to answer, but he decided to be truthful with the kid. "It was exciting, fast paced, and challenging." He saw Daniel smile. "But I'm not encouraging that career path. It's tiring and eventually you get caught. And not everyone is as lucky as me. I get to work with a guy who I know has my back."

"Mr. Burke's brother? The guy who caught you?" Daniel asked, trying to understand how a FBI agent and ex-con could be friends.

"Yeah, that's Peter. I can't say we were best friends from the start, but I trust him now."

"Wow."

Neal spent the rest of the class period walking around the room, making sure everyone was working, and talking to Daniel about his favorite artists.

"—but my top favorite has to be Raphael."

"You have great taste," Neal smiled.

"One of my personal favorite of his is actually missing, _St. George and the Dragon_," Daniel said sadly. "It was stolen a few years ago; no one knows where it is."

Neal was glad _some_ things couldn't be found on the internet.

The bell rang and the class walked quickly out of the room, probably to tell their friends that an ex-con was teaching their art class.

"Well, I don't want to be late for Algebra," Daniel stood up and grabbed his book bag. "It was great talking to you, Neal. Are you going to be here tomorrow?"

"Maybe, I'll have to ask Peter."

"Ask me what?"

Neal and Daniel turned and saw Robert and Peter waking toward them.

"Mr. Burke," Daniel faced Robert, "Can Neal come back again tomorrow?"

"Hmm, I don't know _can_ he?" Robert asked Peter.

"We do have to get back to the office someday," Peter caught sight of Daniel's frown, "but I think they can do without us for one more day."

The bell ran and Daniel suddenly realized he wasn't sitting in his Algebra class.

"Don't worry, Daniel, I'll write you a pass," Robert picked up a piece of paper and wrote down something down. "Here you go."

"Thanks, Mr. Burke," Daniel took the note. "I'll see you tomorrow, Neal!" he walked out of the room and to his next class.

"Looks like you made a friend," Robert smiled. "Daniel is one of my favorite students. I'm surprised you got to talk to him, he likes to keep to himself in class."

"I think we both have a mutual respect for art," Neal said.

"Well, don't go teaching him how to forge a painting now," Peter teased.

"Of course not."

"I guess I'll see you guys back here after lunch?" Robert asked.

"Yep, see you soon," Peter waved as he walked out of the classroom with Neal.

For lunch they stopped to get a slice of pizza near the school.

"Good class today?" Peter took a bit of his pizza.

"It was much better than yesterday's that's for sure."

"So, in the halls, everyone was talking about the ex-con teaching art," Peter smiled.

"Really? Word travels fast." Neal put down his pizza and grabbed a napkin. "Some girl Google'd me. Even my agreement with the Bureau is on there. You might wanna look into that."

"Once we get back to the office I'll mention it."

Both of them finished their pizzas and went back to the car.

"Daniel told me his favorite painting is a Raphael," Neal said as Peter was driving to the school.

"Interesting. Would it happen to be the same Raphael that you stole?"

"_Allegedly_ stole, Peter," Neal corrected.

"Right, my bad." Peter shook his head, "Always the hypotheticals with you."

* * *

><p>The next class went as smoothly as the first. A few of the kids asked Neal if the rumors were true, about him being an ex-con, and he answered honestly. No one really seemed to care. Actually, a lot of them even asked him for his autograph.<p>

By the end of class, everyone finished their projects from the previous day. Alice's panda ended up being the class favorite. When Robert returned with Peter, he said that all the finished works would be showcased at the next school art fair, which got the kids excited.

Everyone was delighted to hear Neal was coming back tomorrow, but sad that it'd be his last day.

It was night time and they were back at the hotel. Peter was watching the game and Neal was reading a book. Neal put down the book to get some sleep but saw that Peter fell asleep on the bed. Tonight Peter was supposed to sleep in the chair and Neal on the bed.

Neal smiled as he turned off the TV and the lamp stand next to the arm chair. He'd let Peter take the bed for tonight.

* * *

><p><strong>(AN):** Wow, so this was much longer than I anticipated! I've never taken art at school, so I have no clue how/what Neal would teach. I hope it sounded realistic enough. Anyway, I guess this is it for the story! Thank you all so much for reading! :)


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